Do You Believe In Magic?
by frenchvanilla98
Summary: Life can be difficult when you're the sister of James Potter. Now it's 6th year, and things are getting a little out of control. RL/OC, SB/OC, JP/LE. First in Brianna Potter trilogy. Please review!
1. The New Girl in Town

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.

A/N: For those of you who have already read this, I had to change the beginning. I got rid of the first chapter and changed the beginning of this chapter. It just wasn't working for me the way it was and I felt that it really needed to be fixed. Sorry, and I hope you enjoy!!

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Chapter 1: The New Girl in Town

**-Brianna POV-**

Oh Hogwarts, dear Hogwarts! How I've missed you!

It's true, I really have! I mean, I haven't missed homework or classes. I'll probably be ready to head back home after a week. But still, I've actually missed the place. Plus, it's so great to finally see my friends again. You know, the ones I haven't seen all summer. Lily and I never met up with any of them. I guess there was a lot of excitement, what with going to St. Mungo's and all.

The train ride wasn't all that eventful.

Except for the fact that we shared a compartment with James and his friends. I don't think that's ever happened in all my years at Hogwarts! One reason being that Lily hates my brother. I gave up hope after the fiasco at the end of last year, after OWLs, that this would ever change. However, Lily stayed at my house this summer and James somehow managed to deflate his oversized ego (which is not as oversized as Sirius'). About halfway through the summer they started to get along. Now they're actually becoming friends. It's really strange. It feels as though I've entered another dimension. It is nice, though, to have my best friend and my brother finally get along.

Oh! Also, Stella's coming to Hogwarts this year!

Stella is our cousin. She just moved here from France. She grew up in England. My uncle (her dad) is brothers with my dad. A while back, almost right before we started at Hogwarts, Uncle Bert (his name's Hubert, but he hates it, so we call him Bert) got a job as English Ambassador to France's Ministry of Magic. They all moved to France, where Stella's mom is from. So she ended up going to Beauxbatons. We found out that they were moving back to England just a few weeks ago. Mum told us at breakfast one day.

James and I were really excited. James made a high-pitched shriek that sounded like a girl. We were all enthusiastic about it, and then Sirius goes, "Yes! This is going to be SO great!" We just looked at him like he was a freak. Because he was…is.

"You don't even know who Stella is," James accused him.

"I know. I just wanted to be included in the excitement," Sirius answered.

See, we used to be so close with Stella. The three of us did everything together. This was before school, so we didn't really have any other friends outside our family. We haven't seen them since they moved to France. Well, we've seen Uncle Bert who occasionally would come to England for diplomatic business stuff. But we haven't seen Stella since then.

Here's the problem: Stella has really changed. She's a completely different person. When we were younger the three of us would get up to so much trouble. We had so much fun. Now she's all proper and boring. She speaks all properly and acts all polite. She looked scandalized when James suggested an end of the summer prank. Her family came over for dinner last night. That was the first time we saw them.

Everyone loves her. I mean, she's nice and all, but I don't really see why everyone thinks she's so great. James and I are the only ones who aren't so thrilled. We were really disappointed. Sirius was also disappointed. After we'd gone on about her so much, he was actually excited. After spending an hour in her presence he pulled us aside and asked if we were insane. That's rich! _Sirius_ asking _me_ if _I'm_ insane. Sirius asking anyone if they're insane is really, well…insane.

Oh, well. She is family, after all. I do love all my family. Even the boring ones.

Speaking of which, I should go save my friends from being bored to death by her.

I shouldn't say something so mean about my own cousin. Lily would not approve.

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-No POV-

"Look, James, you can't deny that the Cannons are the best in the league this year," Sirius reasoned with his friend, trying to distract him long enough to move his king out of danger. James always beat him in Wizards Chess and he was determined to win this game.

"Really?" James frowned. "We all know that the – "

"Hiya!" A small black figure jumped up in front of the two boys, causing James to curse and Sirius to knock over the board.

"James! That language is not appropriate in front of the younger students," Abbey Hewitt, a sixth year, admonished as she walked up to them.

James snorted. "Since when do you care about cursing?"

"Since you decided to do it in front of my little sister," Abbey answered, gesturing to the figure next to her, who didn't seem to be able to stand in one place.

"Well, aren't you just a bundle of joy," Sirius grinned at the girl. She grinned back.

"James, I'd like you to meet by sister, Macy," Abbey said. Abbey smiled widely.

Sirius stared at the two of them, "James, I think I'm seeing double."

"Macy's a right good quidditch player and she's trying out for the team," Abbey told James proudly. Macy hopped from one foot to the other, still grinning.

"I think I've been transported back in time," Sirius frowned, shaking his head as he stared at Macy.

"Look, kid," James said to the girl, "I'm sorry, but first years aren't allowed to play quidditch. Maybe next year."

"She's a second year, James," Abbey's eyes narrowed.

"Oh, well you have to be in Gryffindor to try out for our team. You know that, Abbey," James replied.

"Really! She is in Gryffindor!" Abbey rolled her eyes. "Honestly, James."

"I don't see how," Sirius said, "She seems pretty difficult not to notice."

James eyed the tiny figured with uncertainty. "Really? Well, okay then. But there's only one spot, and you're a tad on the small, so don't get your hopes up."

"You were much smaller than her when you made the quidditch team," Abbey argued.

"Was not," James shot back. Abbey rolled her eyes and said nothing.

"Okay, little one, on your way," Sirius uncomfortably gave her a small nudge on her back. Macy gave James a thumbs up and a "See you Saturday," then hurried off to her small, giggling group of friends.

"So, James, congrats on the captaincy," Abbey grinned, giving him a friendly punch in the arm.

"Ow, Abs, that hurt," James rubbed his arm. "Look, I'm sorry you didn't get it, I know that you're really dedicated to the team and – "

Abbey laughed. "James, I'm so glad I didn't get it. I love quidditch but I could never boss people around or manage a team. There's a reason you got the position."

"Anyway, I have homework to do. See you James, Sirius," she trilled, giving Sirius the same friend punch in the arm she'd given James. Sirius frowned. "That hurt, Hewitt!"

"Wimp," Brianna said, walking by.

"That girl has quite the punch," James said. "She must put all that energy she has into it."

"Hey, Bria, did you know that Hewitt has a little sister?" Sirius asked, wide-eyed.

Brianna rolled her eyes. "Yeah, Abbey is my friend, after all. Besides, Macy's been here a whole year. She's kind of hard not to notice."

Remus, who was sitting nearby, chuckled. "Aw, hiya Moony!" Sirius imitated Abbey by punching Remus in the arm.

"SIRIUS!"

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THE MARAUDER'S GUIDE TO BEING A MARAUDER

Rules of Marauder Friendship

1. Never, ever betray one of your fellow Marauders.

2. Never tell any of the Marauder secrets to anyone, (ie: Remus' furry little problem and circumstances around it…Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs, a certain cloak and map). The only exceptions to this rule are if those affected give their consent to tell a certain person.

3. Never steal another Marauder's girlfriend or love interest (ie: LILY EVANS!!!!!!)

4. Never get a fellow Marauder in trouble or tell other's of a prank they may or may not have done.

5. Speaking of which, never prank a fellow Marauder, (exceptions to this rule may occur often).

6. Never befriend a Slytherin, unless by some miracle they are deemed worthy by all Marauders (a miracle that could only possibly happen in another dimension). Especially no association with the following: Severus Snape, Lucius Malfoy, Bellatrix Black, Narcissa Black, Regulus Black, basically any relative of Sirius' who is in Slytherin. We really hate those.

7. Back to the pranking, NEVER prank Lily Evans, unless you are James Potter or you have his permission (which will be very rare, probably non-existent).

8. Never date James' sister, Brianna Potter. James will not tolerate it. (Being the protective, not-older git he is. Just kidding, he's not a git.)

9. Never call James Potter or any other Marauder a git or any other offensive name, (except for when they deserve it, ie: when Sirius is being a major prat…take that!!!)

10. Forgive and Forget (Unless it is really unforgivable).

The breaking of any of these rules will result in the immediate removal of your status of a Marauder. Exceptions are as follows:

Breaking rules 5, 9, or 10 will have no consequences (though breaking 5 may result in a temporary suspension from the Marauder group, if it is deemed serious enough).

Breaking rules 4 and 7 will only result in a temporary suspension from the Marauder group, as well as a short period of shunning.

Rules may be added or detracted from this list with the agreement of ALL of the Marauders.

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-Stella POV-

Being a new student is shit. That's right, Stella Potter just said shit. It's true, though. I had friends. I had a school where I fit in. That had not come easy. When I first began at Beauxbatons I was an outsider. I had spent my days causing trouble with my cousins and best friends, James and Brianna Potter. I worked very hard to learn to fit in with a group of people who were whole worlds apart from me. Now the irony is I no longer fit in a world in which I would have once belonged without any effort at all.

I walk into Charms class. The only empty seat is next to James' friend, Sirius Black. I hesitate. Of all of James and Brianna's friends, Sirius does not seem to like me all that much. However, I don't have any other choices so I head for the seat. As I sit down I look over at Sirius. He is wearing a grin and looking at a spot across the room. I follow his line of sight to see a student, I think his name is Snape, swatting at something above his head.

"Hello, Sirius," I say with a smile. If I want to fit in, I might as well start trying.

Sirius just sort of grunts and nods his head a little, not taking his eyes away from Snape. I sigh and begin taking out my books. What's one student, really?

"Psst, Stella," comes a voice from behind me. I turned to see Alice smiling at me. "You don't happen to have an extra quill I could borrow, do you?"

"Oh, sure," I say. I rifle through my bag and find a quill. I always knew there was a good reason to be over prepared. I turn around and hand her the quill.

"Thanks. Remus here didn't think to bring more than one quill with him to classes," Alice grins. Remus smiles as well.

"I don't know what I was thinking, not bringing extra supplies just in case Alice might have forgotten hers," Remus jokes. I laugh at them. Sirius' head whips around.

"What was that Moony? What's the joke?" he asks with enthusiasm. Alice rolls her eyes.

"Nothing, Sirius," Remus says. Sirius' shoulders sag and he turns back towards Snape. I'm pretty sure I see a slight flick of his wand in that direction.

"I think you'll find that Sirius finds the need to be involved in everything," Remus tells me quietly. Except anything that involves me, of course. It shouldn't bother me, the approval of one person, but it kind of does.

Alice laughs at what Remus said. Sirius' head whips around again. His eyes narrow. "There's obviously something funny going on. Why won't you just tell me?" Sirius whines.

Remus shakes his head. "Oh, Stella was just making a joke about something that happened in Arithmancy yesterday. You really had to be there to understand."

Sirius turns to me. "Hmmm. Stella didn't strike me as the joke-telling type." Then he turns to get James' attention, who is sitting in front of him.

"Don't let him bother you," Alice leans forward to whisper, reading the expression on my face. "That's just how Sirius is."

Professor Flitwick walks in at this moment, ending the conversation.

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-Brianna POV-

I'm sitting in the library. I know, why would I ever dream of coming to the library? Lily dragged me here. Then she decided to ditch me. Unfortunately I can't just leave because she's just in the Restricted Section and she could be back any minute. I look unhappily down at my work. This isn't due until next week.

I look up as someone takes a seat beside me. Thank Merlin for a distraction. It's Stella. I'm really hoping she's not here to do work.

"So, what's up with Sirius?" Stella asks me after a few minutes.

"You mean other than the fact that he's a major prat?" I ask, grinning. Stella laughs. I made her laugh, one point for Brianna!

"It's just that…he hasn't really been very friendly," she says. "I tried to talk to him but he didn't seem interested at all."

"Stella, don't worry about him. Honestly. Like I said, he can be a right git when he wants to," I tell her. I am so going to beat on Sirius for being mean to my cousin. I know I've said she's boring, but she is my cousin. Plus, she's sweet.

"I thought you were friends with him," Stella frowns.

I laugh. "Even if I am friends with him it doesn't change the way he acts sometimes. I have to fight the urge to punch him every other day." I can see the corners of Stella's lips tugging upward. This is great. Stella and I are bonding.

"Who do you fight the urge to punch every other day?" I hear a familiar voice ask. I look up as Remus takes a seat across from us and puts his books on the table.

"I'll give you one guess," I raise my eyebrows.

"Probably Sirius," Remus grins. Remus has the most infectious smile. You can't help but smile whenever Remus does. "What's he been doing this time?"

"It's what he hasn't been doing," I say. "He hasn't been nice to Stella at all."

"Why? What did he say to you?" Remus frowns.

"He hasn't been mean to me or anything," Stella is blushing now. "He just…he just doesn't really seem to like me, that's all. It's not a big deal."

"Don't worry, Stella, I'm going to give him a piece of my mind," I assure her. Unfortunately, this does not seem to be very reassuring to her.

"Please don't say anything about it," Stella pleads. "I don't want him to think I…just don't say anything. It's really not important."

I sigh. "Okay, fine."

"Thanks," Stella smiles. "I have to go. I promised James I'd help him with our assignment for Transfiguration. For some reason he refused to come to the library to do it."

Remus and I just laugh. After she leaves, I turn to Remus. "I'm talking to Sirius and you have to come with me. He'll listen to you."

Remus frowns. "You just promised her you wouldn't say anything."

"Well, I lied. Look," I add, seeing his disapproval, "I won't tell him that she said anything to me. We'll just tell him that it's something we've noticed. She's my cousin, I have to help her fit in and get settled and all."

Remus' shoulders sag in defeat at my pleading expression. I have mastered the art of convincing people to do things with my facial expressions. I think it's a Potter gift. Except James obviously has not mastered it as well as I have, as he can still not convince Lily to go out with him.

"Fine, I'll talk to him with you," Remus says, "But I want it on the record that I still don't think we should."

"Okay, I've made a note in my mind, 'Remus does not think we should talk to Sirius after Stella asked us not to. He is doing this against his better judgment. As good as his judgment usually is, it's wrong in this instance and I therefore have no worries about going against it.' Happy?"

Remus rolls his eyes. "Sometimes you are just as weird as James, you know that?" Ignoring my outrage, he pulls out some parchments. "So, what are you working on?"

"Oh, I'm not doing any – " All of a sudden Lily has appeared out of nowhere. "I'm not doing anything except for this wonderful essay that Slughorn gave us. I love finishing work that isn't due for a whole week," I say enthusiastically. Remus looks at me as though I've finally gone crazy.

"Well, you haven't gotten very much finished," Lily looks pointedly at my blank parchment. Remus notices Lily and I can tell he now understands why I would say such out of character things.

"Lily, I was just reading about the topic. I want to have a full understanding on the subject before I begin to write," I pull one of Remus' books closer to me as I say this.

"You were reading about Potions from 'A History of Magic?'" Lily asks skeptically.

Think fast, Brianna! "Yeah, I thought I'd get an historical perspective. Anyway, Remus and I have to get going. We have some important business to deal with." I shove all my things into my bag and look at Remus.

"Now? I was hoping to get some work done first. Can't we do that la – " I interrupt him by grabbing his arm.

"Come on, Remus. We have to go _now_," I pull him away from the table, where his books are still laying. I know that Lily will get them for him. Once we leave the library I let go. "Look, I'm sorry, but sometimes you have to help out a friend in need. I couldn't stand another minute in that place." Remus snorts, but doesn't say anything.

"Remus, you know, snorting is very unattractive."

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-Sirius POV-

So, I'm just sitting in the common room, innocently minding my own business when I'm approached by an angry looking Brianna and a resigned looking Remus. That's right, I know words like 'resigned'. Let me just tell you one thing: an angry Brianna is never a good thing. Especially when that anger is aimed towards me.

"Sirius, we need to talk," she says, taking a seat at the table I'm at.

"Look, Bria, I don't really have time right now. I'm trying to get some work done here," I say. I try to sound impatient and hope this succeeds in getting her to leave.

"Really?" she raises an eyebrow skeptically. She grabs my school-book, opens it, and out falls the quidditch magazine I was looking at. Shit. "This is the homework you were working on?"

"Um, no, I don't know how – " I begin, but am rudely interrupted.

"Honestly, Sirius, I don't have time for this," Brianna says.

"I actually really don't have time for this," Remus adds. Neither of us acknowledge him.

Brianna looks at me. Straight in the eyes. It's kind of intimidating. "Sirius, you need to be nice to Stella."

Excuse me? When was I not nice to Stella? I've barely even had enough conversation with her to not be nice. "I haven't been mean to Stella! What are you on about?"

"You haven't been mean, maybe, but you haven't been very nice either," Brianna accuses. I swear, this girl is crazy. I've been saying it for years and no one ever listened.

"Bri, sweets, I have been perfectly nice to her. Besides, I've barely spoken two words to her. What harm could I have done in that little time?"

Oh, she's starting to look scary. "Sirius, do not call me 'sweets', okay?" I grin. Now I know exactly what I'm going to call her from now on. Doesn't she realize that when she tells me not to do something she gives me the perfect ammunition to use against her? "And, that's exactly the problem. You don't say anything to her. You barely acknowledge her existence."

"What, I'm supposed to be friends with her now?" I ask. Really! I haven't done anything wrong. Besides, who is Brianna to tell me who I have to be friends with?

"No, you don't have to be friends with her, you just have to be friendly," Brianna answers.

This is insane. What did I do to deserve this? "I don't get it."

"Look, Sirius," Remus speaks up, "she is James and Brianna's cousin, and she's new. It can't be very easy being the new girl around a bunch of people who've known each other for five years."

"Sirius, it's pretty simple," Brianna adds. "When Stella says 'Hello, Sirius' you say 'Hello Stella, how are you?' and she'll say 'I'm good, and you?' and you'll say 'I'm doing well, thanks' and that's all that you have to do."

"But, Brianna – " Again I'm interrupted. Did anyone ever tell her it's rude to interrupt?

Brianna grabs the front of my shirt. She looks really angry. "Sirius, you listen to me," Okay, this is really scary. I'm mean, this is nightmare scary. "You will be nice to my cousin. You are going to be friendly, you are going to talk to her, you will act in a way so that there is no doubt in her mind that you don't dislike her." I never knew that Brianna could be this scary. She's inches from my face and her expression is something I don't think I can ever erase from my mind. I think she's going to kill me. "I don't care if you're nice to Lily, Marlene, Alice, or any of my other friends. I don't care who you're nice to. But you WILL be nice to Stella. And, if you're not, I will beat you."

I gulp. I have no words. It's all I can do not to start trembling in my seat. I'm officially freaked out. I never knew that she could be that – a grin forms on my face. She's going to beat me? Really? That speech was beyond freaky, but she ruined it with the end. Now that I think of the ridiculousness of it I can't take her seriously anymore.

"Brianna, honestly, you couldn't hurt me if you tried," I tell her.

"Yes, I could," She answers. Her expression, if possible, is even scarier. It doesn't bother me, however, because she completely ruined the effect with that statement.

"Let's be real. You could try, but I doubt you could even leave me with a bruise," I say. This is great!

"Trust me, I could leave you with more than a bruise. I could break your nose right now if I wanted to," she says.

Ha! "Really?" I say, raising an eyebrow.

"Really," she answers.

"I'd like to see you try."

"Are you sure? Because I could do it right now."

"Yeah, I'm sure. Try right now to break my nose. Do it," I challenge. This is beyond priceless.

Brianna looks me in the eyes. "You honestly want me, right now, to try and break your nose?"

"I honestly want you to. Because I know that you can't."

Her eyes narrow a little. "You're positive. You are absolutely sure that you want me to see if I can break your nose. Right now. You want me to actually try to break your nose?"

"I already said I did, just get on with it." I wish James were here. This is the greatest. This girl actually thinks she can break my nose. I doubt I'll be able to feel more than a little sting. I'm willing to deal with a little sting. I can't pass up such a hilarious opportunity as this.

"Okay. I just want to make sure, so that you can't blame me after I break your nose," Brianna says. I laugh.

"Come on, you two," Remus says, "You're not actually going to do this?"

"Remus, he said he wants me to try and break his nose."

"Yeah. Besides, don't worry, it's not like she could even hurt a first year," I reason with him.

Brianna turns to Remus. "I want it on the record that Sirius Black asked me to try to break his nose."

"What's the record?" I ask. Honestly, what is she going on about?

"Write it down, Remus," she says. Remus just stands there, looking irritated with the two of us. "I'm serious, write it down right now so that I have proof."

"No, actually I'm – " I begin, but her hold on the front of my shirt tightens, so I stop. I personally think it's a great joke. Remus sighs, rolls his eyes, and grabs a parchment and quill. Bria dictates to him. When he's finished writing, he turns back to us. "Are you happy?"

"Yep," Brianna grins. Then she pulls back her hand. Her fist is coming towards my face. Haha, I can't believe she thinks –

CRACK!

SHIT!

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A/N: I know that the Marauders Guide might seem a little random and out of place right now, but it is important to the story later on.

Also, I would really love some reviews!!!


	2. Bad Reputation

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. Also, I don't own any of the titles of my chapters, they are all songs.

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**Chapter 2: Bad Reputation**

**-James POV-**

"Where's Remus and Sirius?" I demand as Brianna sits down at the table. We've all been waiting for the three of them to come to dinner. Finally Bria gets here, but the other two are still missing.

"I don't know," Bria answers innocently. Too innocently. Trust me, I'm a Potter, I use that innocent look myself and I know when to recognize it.

"You're lying," I accuse. Bria's eyes widen. A classic 'trying to avoid detection' technique. I use it against Lily all the time.

"I am not lying. Why would I know where they are? Last time I saw them they were in the common room," she says. She sounds a bit more honest about the last part. Hmmm.

"Bri," Lily speaks up in voice that I'm just glad is not directed towards me. "What have you been up to?"

"Nothing," Bria huffs. "Can't you all just leave me alone and let me eat? I don't know where Sirius is, and I really don't care."

"What were you and Remus in such a rush to do earlier?" Lily asks. "You practically ran out of the library. Remus left all his books." Now this is interesting. Remus leaving his books in the library? He never leaves his books behind. Bria running from the library, however, is not such an unlikely scenario.

Bria hesitates. "Lily, I didn't want to say anything. I'm kind of embarrassed. It's just…Remus agreed to help me with Charms. I just didn't want anyone to know. But I haven't seen him since then. Sirius came down to talk to him and I left the common room." Something about that doesn't sound right, but I just can't quite figure it out.

"Oh," Lily looks taken aback. "Well, I guess that's – "

"Wait a minute!" I exclaim. Alice, who's sitting beside me, jumps at the sudden outburst. "Why would Remus be helping you in Charms? You got an O in Charms. You're brilliant in Charms."

Bria has her 'Oh shit, I've been caught' expression on. Her eyes narrow. "Look, it doesn't matter what we were up to. I have no idea where those two are. Now, I want to eat my food and if you don't leave me alone I'll just go sit somewhere else." She's says, glancing down the table to where Abbey and Mary MacDonald are sitting together.

I sigh. I'll figure it out sooner or later. Bria just gets a little scary when it comes to not being able to eat food. Our group falls into silence.

"Hey, Remus," Marlene breaks the silence. I look up to see Remus standing behind me. He takes the empty seat next to me. We all look at him – minus Bria who's looking anywhere but him – as he piles food onto his plate. He appears to be oblivious to us. Finally I can't take it anymore.

"Remus, where were you? What's going on? Where's Sirius?" I burst out. Remus appears a little startled.

"What's with all the questions?" he asks.

"What happened to you and Sirius?" I ask again. Remus glances towards Bria, who is still not looking at him.

"Did Bria tell you?" he asks in surprise. Then, "OW! What was that for?" He demands. Bria is wearing her innocent look again.

"What was what for?" she asks.

"You just kicked me!"

"Uh…that wasn't me, it was – "

"Bria didn't tell us anything," I interrupt. "She said she had no idea where the two of you were." Remus raises an eyebrow. "Where's Sirius?"

"He's just…he was in the Hospital Wing, he –"

"OW!" I cry. That hurt. I glare at Bria, "What was that for?" Now she's wearing her 'Oops, I made a mistake' face.

"Er, sorry?" she looks at me hopefully.

Wait a minute! Sirius is in the Hospital Wing? "What happened to Sirius? Is he okay?"

Bria lets out a huff. "He's fine, James. Chill out."

How does she know he's fine? "I thought you had no idea what had happened to him?"

"This is getting so old," I hear Marlene mumble to Alice.

"James, if Sirius wasn't okay, don't you think we'd know by now? Do you really think Remus would just sit down and start eating without saying anything? Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to sit with Abbey and Mary because you obviously can't just shut your mouth and drop it." She does have a point there, about knowing that Sirius is fine. But still. I watch as she gets up and walks over to her two friends, both 5th year Gryffindors, at the other end of the table. I shrug.

"So, will you just tell me what happened to him?" I ask Remus.

"He just broke his nose. It's fine. Madame Pomfrey healed it in seconds," Remus replied.

"Well, where is he then?" I ask.

Remus sighs. "He didn't want to come down. You'll see why for yourself." That's it. Remus doesn't say anymore and I drop the subject.

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-Remus POV-

We step into the common room. I tense, ready for more drama. I should have gotten use to this over the summer. Well, I should be use to it after five years, but I can't really say that I am. We all file in. Some, like Alice and Marlene, have completely forgotten about the whole thing and begin chatting by the fire. Lily takes out homework and sits down at a table. Brianna plops down on a couch looking both hesitant about what is to follow and proud of what she accomplished. James has not forgotten and immediately looks around for Sirius.

"PADFOOT!" He bellows when he sees that Sirius is not in the common room. Lily looks up and shoots James a disapproving look, "Shh!"

"Padfoot!" he calls again, for once in his life ignoring Lily.

"What?!" We hear Sirius call from the top of the stairs leading to the boys dorm.

"Come down!" James calls back. Lily lets out a loud huff.

"NO!" Sirius calls back. Bria grins. She hasn't actually yet seen why he won't come down, but I'm sure she's eagerly anticipating it.

"Please, come on!"

"I can't!"

"Sirius, come down. Whatever it is, it can't be that bad!" James reasons, "Besides, you can't hide forever!"

There's silence. Luckily there aren't a lot of people in the common room other than us. Then we hear slow footsteps as Sirius emerges. Everyone is looking at him, but he looks mostly normal. In fact, if you didn't know what had happened to him, you wouldn't be able to tell.

James frowns. "I don't get it, what's wrong?"

Bria bursts into laughter. "What's with your nose, Sirius? It looks a bit crooked!"

Last she saw him he had blood pouring out of his nose. She didn't come with us to the Hospital Wing. It turns out that Madame Pomfrey wasn't able to get his nose completely back to normal.

Sirius glares at her. "YOU! This I all your fault! Thanks to you I am now deformed!"

Lily snorts. Sirius rounds on her. She just shrugs, raises an eyebrow, and turns back to her work.

James' eyes narrow. "How did you break your nose?" he asks slowly, looking over at Bria.

"Your precious little sister over here punched me!" he cries. James' eyes widen and Lily gasps. Alice and Marlene look over, and I can see that Marlene is grinning widely. I hear Abbey chuckle from her spot on a couch next to Mary.

"Brianna Potter! You did what?!" Lily exclaims.

Bria rolls her eyes. "He asked for it."

"I don't care if he was provoking you, that's no reason to punch him," Lily lectures.

"No, I mean he literally asked me to break his nose."

James looks skeptical. "He asked you to break his nose?"

"Yeah, he said that I couldn't do it and told me to try it. Trust me, I asked if he was positive. I even had Remus write it down for proof. Remus, where's that parchment?" Bria asks me. I can't believe I ever got myself into the middle of this. You'd think I would have learned by now. I pick the parchment off the nearby table I left it on and hand it to her. She begins to read what she had told me to write.

" 'Let the record show that Sirius Black has asked Brianna Potter to try and break his nose. She has asked him if he is absolutely, positively sure and he has said that he is.' See?" She says once she has finished reading.

"What's the 'record'?" James asks.

"Well, you still shouldn't have done it," Lily says sternly, "Honestly, Bri."

James turns to Sirius. "Too bad I wasn't there, mate. I could have told you that it was a mistake. No one can punch like Bria can."

"I'll keep that in mind," Sirus says sarcastically, putting a hand to his nose. Then he grins. I recognize that grin and know instantly that it is a very bad thing. "I'll hand it to you, _sweets_, you do have quite a right hook."

Bria looks outraged. She leaps up and lunges to Sirius. Luckily, I have quick reflexes and am able to grab her around the waist before she reaches Sirius. "I. TOLD. YOU. NOT. TO. CALL. ME. SWEETS!" She yells. She starts flailing to get away. Ow! Damn that hurt.

"Bri!" I yell as she elbows me in the chest. "OW!" She just kicked me in the shins.

Sirius grins and watches as she struggles to get at him. "Look, sweets, as fun as this has been I'm tired," he pauses for an exaggerated yawn, "so I'm off to bed."

Bria's struggling even harder. Man, she's very violent. I don't know how much longer I can hold on. Sirius saunters up the stairs and I hold on until he has disappeared completely.

"Remus, let go!" she demands. I release my hold. She stands there, fuming. Everyone is watching. Then she takes off running towards the boys' staircase. James beats her there and blocks the entry way up.

She raises an eyebrow. "Do you want me to break your nose, too?"

Oh, Merlin. Is this day never going to end?

"Honestly, Bria!" Lily exclaims in irritation. She walks over to Bria, grabs her wrist, and drags her to the girls' staircase. They disappear. I am finally able to release a sigh of relief. Finally it's all over. James and I take a seat on a couch next to Peter.

"Fancy a game of Gobstones?" James asks. I guess I have no hope of getting any work done tonight anyway.

"Yeah, sure." James pulls out his Gobstones and begins to set them up. We're about five minutes into the game when we hear a cry from the girls dormitory. "Brianna!" I hear a voice call that sounds distinctly like Lily. Within seconds there is a thundering down the staircase. We all watch as Bria sprints across the common room and up the boy's staircase.

BANG!

"BRIA!"

CRASH!

"SIRIUS!"

"NOOOO!"

I guess I spoke too soon.

* * *

A/N: I would absolutely love some reviews!!! Also, I know that this chapter was short and not all that much happened, but the next chapter has a lot more going on. I've written a lot farther than this (though I have to do some rewriting before I can post) and I think that it gets better.


	3. I Fought the Law

**Chapter 3: I Fought the Law (and the Law Won)**

**-Brianna POV-**

I'm sitting on the ground in the quidditch pitch in the pouring rain. This is bloody ridiculous! I don't even know why I have to be here. It's just that James' head is so bloody big from being the new captain that he just wants to boss everyone around. All I've done for the last hour is get soaked while I sit on the equally wet grass.

We're at quidditch try-outs. James insisted that the whole team be there. This is usually pretty customary. However, since the only open spot is for Chaser, I've been doing nothing. Sirius, Fabian, and I have been sitting here the whole time. James won't let us leave. Sirius and Fabian (Prewitt) are the beaters. Chasers are James and Gideon, Fabian's brother. Abbey is the Keeper and I'm Seeker. Fabian and Gideon are both 7th years. James and Abbey have both been on the team since their 2nd years (Abbey being a year below us). I didn't try out till 3rd year because I knew I wanted to be Seeker. Sirius joined 4th year. Which means that there weren't any openings last year and there are a LOT of people trying out this year. It's taking forever.

I look over at Sirius. He's wiggling his fingers at a giggling girl across the field. Honestly! I look at the girl and she doesn't seem the quidditch type. I'm sure the only reason she's trying out has to do with Sirius and James.

I nudge Sirius. He frowns at me. "What?"

"I'm bored. Entertain me," I say.

He grins and waggles an eyebrow. "I can certainly entertain you, Miss Potter."

I shove him. "Eww, Sirius, not like that!"

"Ewww? I'm not ewww! Fabian, do you think I'm ewww?" Sirius turns towards Fabian. Fabian grins. "Of course not. I would have you in a second if I could."

What is wrong with boys? "Come on, you two! Shove it!"

"Do you reckon James will ever let us go?" Fabian asks. "I'm not even sure he remembers we're still here."

"I'm sure he wouldn't notice if we left," Sirius agrees. I glance longing at the entrance of the quidditch pitch. I'm staring out towards freedom when I see something in the shadows near the entrance. Someone just snuck right past. It was Darcie Malfoy. My eyes narrow, what is she doing? I turn to Sirius, who has gone back to eyeing the girl across the pitch. I nudge him again.

"You really have to quite that, Bria!" He says in annoyance.

"I just saw Darcie Malfoy go by the entrance," I tell the two of them. Sirius and Fabian look in interest towards the entrance, but it's empty. "We have to go check it out."

Fabian hesitates. "I don't know…"

"Let's do it!" Sirius grins, getting up. Fabian and I also stand up. "Come on, Fabian! You said yourself that James probably doesn't remember we're even here."

"Plus, we haven't done anything," I reason.

"I know. But I don't fancy having James mad at me. You know how he can get. You two might not be too worried about it, being his best friend and sister, but I'd rather not deal with that."

I give him my 'convincing face' I've mastered so well. He hesitates. "Please, Fabian?" I put in.

He sighs. "You two just go on. I'll cover for you if James notices."

"Fine," I say, defeated. I grab Sirius' arm and we sneak off the pitch. Darcie is not too far away. We follow her, being sure to stay in the shadows.

"This is great!" Sirius whispers. "I love being sneaky!"

"Shh!" I whisper back. We follow her up to the castle and in the front doors. When she gets into the Entrance Hall she heads up the stairs instead of down into the dungeons. Which is strange, because it's a Saturday. Where would she be going other than her house? We follow silently, being sure to keep a safe distance. Between the two of us we're quite good at trailing someone without being seen. We're walking for a good five to ten minutes. She turns a corner and disappears. We reach the corner and begin to go around, when I grab Sirius' arm. He stops and looks at me in question. I peer down the shadowy hallway. There are two figures in an alcove not far away. Sirius follows my line of sight. I can't quite make them out. Then they turn and –

"Bloody hell!" Sirius whispers very loudly. Darcie Malfoy is meeting in secret with Rodolphus Lestrange. Have they been snogging? It's common knowledge that Lestrange has been dating Bellatrix Black for a good three years. At Sirius' outburst the two suddenly break apart.

"Shit!" I whisper. I tug on Sirius' arm and the two of us begin running in the opposite direction. I can hear footsteps, but they are very far behind us as we turn a corner.

"Up ahead," Sirius whispers. I follow him around another corner. He then grabs my waist and pulls me behind a tapestry. We stand silently and still. The footsteps run past. I let out my breath in relief. We stay quiet for a few more minutes, listening. After a short silence we hear footsteps coming back down the hall towards us. I cringe.

"Sirius, he knows we're here," I say in panic. I don't want to think about what Lestrange might do to someone he suspects knowing that he's cheating on his girlfriend.

"Shh, Bria, he'll hear us." We stand silently. The footsteps stop right in front of the tapestry. This is it, he knows we're here. I tense and I can feel Sirius do the same. Suddenly the tapestry is pulled aside and we are looking into the face of – Remus?

I am so relieved. Remus looks at us in confusion, raising an eyebrow. That is such a Remus trait, raising his eyebrow. I notice his eyes travel to where Sirius still has his arm around my waist. I push it off and lunge towards Remus, throwing my arms around him.

"I have never been so happy to see you!" I exclaim. It's true, I never have.

"MOONY!" Sirius shouts in relief and puts his own arms around both of us.

"Er – it's not that I don't love getting hugs from you two, but you're really wet," Remus says. I smile into his chest.

"It's okay, Remus, we don't mind," I say. Remus chuckles. I like the feel of his rumbling chest. It's – wait, what did I just think?! Before I can further contemplate the thoughts I just had, I hear a very angry voice from behind us.

"What in Godric's name is going on here?!" yells an all too familiar voice. Sirius and I turn in dread to see James standing in front of the quidditch team, all of them dripping wet. James looks murderous.

"Er…" Sirius trails off, helplessly looking at me.

"James, when you hear what we just found out I'm sure you won't be angry anymore. It's quite…shocking," I grin. What we just found out really is priceless. My grin falters, however, when James' expression doesn't change.

"You two," James begins. He takes a step forward, pointing his finger at us. Sirius and I back up, but we run into Remus behind us. "You two are in big trouble," James says. I think he's being a bit overdramatic. I know we left try-outs and all, but is it really that big of a deal?

Next to me Sirius is cowering. I guess it comes with being James' sister, but I'm not afraid of him at all.

"Be reasonable," I say. "We weren't doing anything. You would have done the same thing if you had been in our position. You still haven't heard what we – "

"You want me to be reasonable?" James says calmly. Too calmly. Okay, now he's starting to freak me out a little. When James gets that way, really calm when he's actually furious, I know that things are not going to turn out well. Sirius must not know this, because he smiles and straightens with confidence.

"That would be nice," He says.

"Okay," James answers. "You two are on probation."

"WHAT?!" Sirius exclaims.

"What do you mean we're on probation?" I say almost simultaneously with Sirius. "Can you do that?"

"I can do whatever I want," James answers with a really scary smile. I think he's finally gone over the edge. I really do.

"I don't get it. What is that even supposed to mean?" Sirius asks.

"It means that you will do what I tell you to do if you want to stay on this team." James then pushes past up and heads towards the common room. The rest of the team follows hesitantly. Fabian tries to give us a reassuring smile. Soon it's just Remus, Sirius, and I standing in the hallway. Sirius and I look at each other. His expression shows everything I'm feeling. A mixture of confusion, wariness, and most importantly…horror.

What did I get myself into?

**

* * *

**

-Lily POV-

"Lily, please," Sirius begs me. Bria stands at his shoulder, looking at me with her pleading expression that always gets me. I sigh.

"Fine. But I think you're both being ridiculous." They grin and give each other a high-five. Then they hurry to the empty seats next to Remus, Marlene, and Stella before I can change my mind. I walk towards the last empty seat, between Alice and James. Ever since Saturday, Sirius and Bria have been doing everything in their power to avoid James. I sit down and take out my books.

"Hi James, Alice," I greet my friends. I know, I said friends. James has actually become somewhat of a friend recently. I know what you're thinking: Lily Evans has become friends with James Potter? It's true. He's actually not so bad anymore. I think he's deflated his ego by a few sizes. While he hasn't given up pranking completely, he has been more responsible. But can I really blame him for his trouble making when Bria's almost as bad? Well, at least she's almost as bad now that James has toned it down a bit. Also, he hasn't asked me out since the beginning of the summer. That's quite a step forward for him.

"What are you doing here?" Alice asks. "You always sit next to Remus in Transfiguration."

"Well, Sirius and Bria really…" I glance at James, "really didn't want to sit here."

"Really?" James looks up with a grin. I'm a bit taken aback. Why is he happy about that?

"Why is that a good thing?" I ask, exchanging glances with Alice.

"Because it means that they're scared," his grin grows even wider. It's almost demonic. I think that being completely mental must be a Potter trait. Though, to be fair, neither of their parents are mental. Stella's one of the least mental people I've ever met. Maybe it's a twin trait.

"I know everyone thinks I'm going way overboard," James says. "To be honest, I don't really care that much about them leaving try-outs early. But the thing is that they're the only two on the team who aren't worried about not listening to me. So, after this, I can guarantee you that they'll never do something like that again. They'll listen to me just like everyone else."

I look at James, impressed. He frowns. "What?"

"That's actually a really good idea," I say.

"You don't have to look so surprised," he says indignantly, "I can be smart when I put my mind to it." I laugh. I glance over at Alice and see her watching our exchange with a small smile. I look at her inquisitively, but she just shrugs and looks down at her book. She still has a smile on her face that I can't quite read. What's up with her?

Sometimes I feel like _all_ my friends are going mental.

**-Sirius POV**-

Bria hurries ahead of me. There are two empty seats, between Stella and Remus. Bria quickly grabs the seat next to Remus, leaving me to sit next to Stella. I know that she did it on purpose. She's all set on making me become friends with Stella. Or, as she says, I just have to be 'friendly'. What's the difference?

I sit down and slouch in my seat. I look over at Stella, who is studying her notes from last week. "Hi, Stella," I say, thinking back to the conversation Bria had with me, right before she broke my nose, "How are you?"

Stella is startled. She looks at me in surprise. "Um, I'm fine. How are you?"

"You know, as good as possible under the conditions," I say. Stella is looking really confused. I have no idea why.

"Tell me about it," Bria mutters from my other side. "James is a tyrant."

"Did you finish with the team's laundry?" I ask. James is making us wash all the teams' quidditch robes by hand. Her eyes widen.

"You were supposed to do that," she says. "I just cleaned the Gryffindor changing rooms."

Bloody hell. I thought I was supposed to do that. "Damn," I say. Stella's lips purse at the curse. Then she glances at me and her face quickly relaxes, as if she's trying not to show her disapproval.

I give Bria my puppy dog eyes. They work on girls all the time. "Could you help me with the robes?"

"No way!" Bria exclaims. "I did my part." I guess they don't work on Brianna Potter. Not that I've ever had any success before.

"Honestly," I hear Bria muttering, "as if I would let you put it all on me."

Stella looks at us thoughtfully. "You have to do it by hand?"

"Yes," I answer. Obviously. Bria doesn't like my tone and gives me a look. I glare at her then turn to Stella. "Yeah, he's making us do it by hand," I offer a weak smile.

"It's just, how is he going to know if you did it by hand?" she asks me.

"He'll know if I bring it all to – "

"No, I mean, _you_ could do it with magic and he'd never know," she tells me. My eyes widen in surprise. But then I forget my surprise when I realize I have no idea how to do this.

"I don't know how to clean laundry with magic," I say. We haven't exactly been learning household cleaning charms.

"Well, I do," Stella says. Now it's time to try the puppy dog eyes on her. "I'll show you if you'd like," she continues. I guess I don't need the eyes after all.

"Brilliant!" I exclaim with a grin. I see a small smile appear on Stella's face.

"Aw, Stella, you should have made him do it on his own," Marlene says from her other side. I give Marlene a glare. I swear that girl gets amusement out of my torture.

"Stella!" Bria complains, "What about me? I just spent hours scrubbing the changing rooms!"

"You could have easily done that by yourself with magic," Remus remarks lightly.

Bria gives a huff. "I didn't think of the fact that James would have no idea if I used magic or not."

"Really, Bria, learn to use your head," I grin at her.

Maybe that wasn't such a good idea. She has the same look she did when she broke my nose. At just that moment McGonagall walks into the room. I have never been more happy to see Old Minnie in my life.

**

* * *

**

-Brianna POV-

It's been a week that we've been on probation. A week of torture. Complete and utter torture. I didn't know James could be so ruthless.

It's Saturday and Sirius and I are trailing behind the rest of the team. We have practice on this beautiful, warm Saturday. My arms are full. I'm carrying a case with all the balls in it, plus my broom, along with both James' and Sirius' brooms. Sirius has his own arms full with everyone's practice robes that he had to clean, plus all the game robes. Sirius has been grumbling the whole way as we struggle to keep up with the rest of the team. We finally reach the pitch. Sirius puts the robes in the changing rooms and we hurry to the field where the rest of the team is waiting.

"…five laps around the pitch," I hear him saying as we run over. James turns to us. "You two can take ten laps for being late."

My eyes widen. "But we left the same time you did! We just had so much stuff to carry!"

"Do you want me to make it fifteen?" He demands. I shake my head vigorously. Sirius looks like he wants to pummel James. I know the only thing holding him back is a stronger desire to not be on probation any longer than necessary. We silently grab our brooms and begin our laps around the pitch. I trail behind Sirius.

Looking around the pitch, I see a group of my friends in the stands. They decided to come watch, since it's a Saturday and it's so nice out. Lily, Alice, Marlene, and Remus are all chatting together. As I fly by, Alice waves enthusiastically. I give them a shake of my head, gesture towards James, and punch my fist in my hand. They all get my meaning.

Soon the rest of the team is finished with their laps. Sirius and I still have five more to go. I pull up to Sirius. I think the flying has calmed him down, he doesn't look so furious.

He gives me a look and grins. "What do you say to a race? We start when we reach the entrance and the first one to reach that spot after five laps wins."

I grin. At least this will make it fun. Plus, I know I'll win.

Five minutes later a pouting Sirius follows me over to the rest of the group.

"We're going to scrimmage," he tells us. "You two can stay ten minutes late to catch up on what you just missed." I put a hand on Sirius' arm to stop him from doing something stupid. I can tell that he's really getting fed up.

We start the scrimmage. Abbey's little sister, Macy, made the team and she's really good. I watch them play for a few minutes, then begin looking for the snitch. At one point I see it glittering at the other end of the pitch, but by the time I get there it has disappeared. James yells at me for not being faster. He can be a right prat when he wants to.

I follow behind James as he races down the pitch with the quaffle. I make faces behind his back. I can see my friends laughing from their spots in the stands. Lily looks like she's trying really hard not to laugh. James shoots the quaffle and then turns around. I immediately fly away, pretending that I'm searching for the snitch.

I'm starting to get bored. I love quidditch and all, but when there's no rush from the excitement of a game it can get tiresome just searching for the snitch. As I'm flying around, idly looking for the snitch, a movement catches my eye. My head snaps towards that direction. I see someone standing in the shadows of one corner of the stands. The figure must spot me coming towards them, because they quickly dart into the cover of the stairwell. But not before I see that it was Darcie Malfoy.

What is she doing here? Why was she hiding in the stands? Suddenly realization hits me. Of course! She wasn't snogging Lestrange last week at all. She's been –

"BRIANNA!" James bellows. I cringe. Slowly I turn around to see that the whole team has stopped scrimmaging and they are all looking at me. Sirius looks pleased that I'm the one in trouble and not him.

I'm about to open my mouth when I see a purple flash coming towards me from the direction of the stairwell. I swerve to miss it and my broom rolls over, but I hold on tightly. BLOODY HELL! Darcie's trying to curse me so I won't tell anyone what I saw. I'm just recovering from my roll when someone across the pitch shouts out a warning. I turn just in time to see another spark flying towards me. I try to swerve again, but I know I'm too late. It hits me. For a second I can feel my hands loosening on my broomstick. Then everything goes black.

* * *

A/N: I am desperate for reviews!!! Even if you don't like it then I would like to know what I can be doing better!!


	4. I'm Only Sleeping

**Chapter 4: I'm Only Sleeping**

**-Brianna POV-**

"Do you think she's okay?"

Why am I lying on the grass?

"Thanks to Remus I don't think she hurt anything."

Oh yeah, Darcie Malfoy hexed me.

"Why would someone start cursing her like that?"

I think I fell off my broom.

"We should probably bring her up to the Hospital Wing."

Considering the fall, I'm surprised that nothing hurts.

"She might have broken a bone, maybe someone should go get Madame Pomfrey."

Except my head. It feels like it's about to split open.

"She's really not looking very good."

"Shove it, Marlene," I mutter. Marlene chuckles.

"Bria!" I hear Lily exclaim. I slowly open my eyes. Remus is kneeling beside me, looking all worried. Everyone is standing around me. Lily kneels down on my other side and peers into my face.

"Are you okay?" she asks.

"I'm fine," I say. I start to push myself up. Remus puts an arm behind my back to help me up. I sit and look around. "Where's James and Sirius?"

"They went after the person that cursed you," Marlene answers.

"Really?" I say. Then I start to stand. Lily and Remus help me. Now that they know I'm fine, the team starts to head to the changing rooms. "I need to find James. I have to tell him something."

"I'm sure it can wait," Lily chides, "you just got hexed and fell off your broom. You should go back to the dorms and lie down."

"I don't get it," I say, distracted for a minute. "If I fell that far how come I only have a few sore muscles and a headache?"

"Remus used a spell to slow your fall. You didn't hit the ground very hard," Alice answers. She's looking all concerned for me.

"Aww, thanks Remus," I grin, giving Remus a bear hug. Then I turn to Lily. "You don't understand, this is important. It's the whole reason I got cursed in the first place."  
"What?!" my four friends exclaim.

"You know why you were cursed?" Lily asks.

"Yeah," I reply and begin walking towards the entrance of the pitch. "Let's go find James."

As we walk I notice that Remus has been oddly quiet. I glance over at him. He seems to be lost in thought. He looks up and catches my eye, giving me a small smile.

"Bria!" I turn to see James and Sirius walking towards us. When James reaches me he throws his arms around me.

"Merlin, James, get off," I say after he's practically squeezed me to death.

"Are you okay?" he asks. Not fifteen minutes ago he was about to murder me. Now that someone else tried to murder me he's all concerned.

"I'm fine," I say.

"Whoever it was, we didn't get them," Sirius puts in. "I almost had them, too. If I had just had my wand on me…"

"It's not a big deal," I tell them. "I know who did it."

"You do?" James looks really surprised.

I sigh. "We need to talk."

**

* * *

**

-No POV-

Brianna woke up to a light in her face. Opening her eyes, she looked out the window and saw that the sun seemed to be setting. She blinked, stretched, and rolled over onto her back. She sat up and looked around, but the common room was empty. Frowning, she got out of bed. She looked down and saw that she was in her quidditch practice robes. She vaguely remembered getting into bed. It had been around two in the afternoon and she had just laid down to rest, not even changing out of her robes. She put on some clean clothes. After telling James her suspicions, Lily had insisted that she go rest.

James had been indignant at the idea that Darcie Malfoy was spying on the Gryffindor quidditch team and passing the information to Lestrange, the Slytherin captain. After Sirius pointed out that he wouldn't have ever known had it not been for Sirius and Brianna following Darcie, James told them that they weren't on probation anymore. James had also been furious that Darcie had tried to hurt Brianna. Remus had also been surprisingly angry, Brianna thought.

Once Brianna was changed she headed down to the common room. She reached the bottom of the stairs and thought that the common room was empty. Then she noticed a small group in the corner of the room. She looked over and gasped at what she saw.

At the sound they all looked towards her. "Bria!" Lily cried, hurrying over and engulfing her in a hug. "I was so worried about you!"  
"I'm fine," Brianna pushed out of her embrace and walked towards the rest of the group. James was holding a cloth to his nose that was clearly gushing blood and had a huge lump on his forehead. Remus was nursing a black eye and a gash along his jaw. Sirius sat unscathed but looking extrememly put out. Stella and Alice, the only other two in the room, both stood up as she approached. Their looks of concern were replaced by relief to see her.

"What happened?" Brianna demanded. She had a sinking feeling that she knew the truth.

"Well, naturally we went after those Slytherin prats," James said. Though through his bloody nose Brianna had to listen very closely to understand.

"I hope it was because they were spying on the team and not because of what happened to me," Brianna said sternly. James and Remus both looked guiltily away from her.

"I completely missed out on the whole thing!" Sirius exclaimed in a disgruntled tone. "Did anyone think to invite me to a brawl with the Slytherins? Nope. Here I was sitting in the common room doing boring old homework when I could have been having some excitement."

"You'd been asleep for so long, we just felt – " Remus broke off. Brianna frowned.

"It can't have been more than a few hours," she said. "I went up there at two and the sun's just setting now."

Everyone exchanged glances. "Um, Bri, that was yesterday that you went to sleep," Alice said in a tentative tone. Brianna looked startled. No wonder Lily had been so concerned.

"Yesterday?" Brianna said weakly. She sat down across from the couch that James and Remus were on.

"Bria, we've just been so worried," Lily gushed. "I was about to take you to the Hospital Wing."

Brianna looked up in dismay. "I have a huge paper due for McGonagall tomorrow and I haven't even started it! She's going to be furious!"

Lily, Stella, and Sirius stared at Brianna in shock. James frowned, Alice looked confused, and Remus grinned. Then he started laughing. Alice joined in, then Lily. Soon everyone except Brianna was laughing. Brianna frowned at them all indignantly.

"You – haha – you're worried – haha – you just – haha – " Sirius held his stomach as he laughed, barely getting out two words. Brianna stared at her friends as they kept laughing. Alice was the first to recover, straightening at Brianna's expression, and Stella instantly did the same. Lily and Remus stopped soon after, both fighting the urge to smile. James and Sirius just kept laughing until Brianna got up and smacked the two of them on the back of their heads.

"Hey!" "That hurt!" "What was that for?"

"I don't appreciate people laughing at my misfortunes," Brianna said primly, sitting back down in her seat.

"You have to admit that it is a little funny," James grinned. Brianna raised an eyebrow. "You were just attacked, you've in bed for over a day, and all you're worried about is some homework. You usually never care that much about homework."

"I don't have to admit it," Brianna replied. "I'll tell you one thing though, I am starving!"

"Aw, there's the old Bri!" Sirius jumped up from his seat enthusiastically. "I'm starving too!"

The others laughed as they headed out of the common room to join the rest of the school at dinner.

**

* * *

**

-Stella POV-

I run through the halls. I know, I would never normally dream of running through the halls. I overslept. My choices are either running through the halls or being late for class. As much as I hate to run in the halls, I hate being late for class even more. I can't believe I overslept, either. I never oversleep. The thing is, I think I remember Bria trying to wake me up multiple times. That's saying something because Bria is always the last to wake up and I've seen Lily struggle to get her out of bed on multiple occasions.

I reach the classroom and throw the door open, hurrying inside with a minute to spare. Professor Flitwick hasn't arrived yet. I look around and see that the only empty seat is, once again, next to Sirius. Luckily, it is also next to Bria. I head over quickly and sit down.

Bria looks at me. "What happened to you? I thought you were up."

I shrug sheepishly. "No, I just got up."

"I can see I've already been a bad influence on you," Bria laughs. I grin. I'm nervous, however, as she reminds me of what I've decided to do. I glance over at Sirius, whose head has turned instantly towards us at the sound of Bria laughing.

"What's so funny?" he asks eagerly.

Bria rolls her eyes. "You don't have to be part of everything, Sirius."

Sirius narrows his eyes. He opens his mouth to say something, but Professor Flitwick walks in and begins class at that moment.

After class is over, I begin nervously packing my things up. I leave the classroom with everyone else. I see Sirius just ahead and hurry to catch up.

"Sirius!" I catch his attention. He looks over at me in surprise. "Can I talk to you for a second?"

"Er – " he hesitates. I notice Bria break off her conversation with Remus and give Sirius a meaningful look. "Yeah, sure," he answers. We hold back and let everyone pass. Then we begin walking slowly behind everyone else. Most of us have a break now and are headed to the common room.

"Here's the thing," I say when we're out of earshot of anyone else. I take a deep breath. "I know that you don't like me very much," Sirius is about to protest, but I stop him. "It's fine. But, you don't seem to like me, and that's okay. I just…well…I had a favor. I completely understand if you can't help me out. I just thought that you'd be the best person."

Sirius studies me curiously. It's a bit disconcerting. I've never had him look at me that closely. "What is it?"

"It's just, you're so good at fitting in with everyone and I…well, I've been struggling a little trying to fit in with everyone. I mean, I used to be just like James and Bria, but now…I just thought that, if you didn't mind, maybe you could help me fit in a little better," I say. I keep my eyes glued to the floor. I'm startled when Sirius emits a loud, bark-like laugh. I look up. He's grinning. He throws an arm around me, which startles me even more. Yesterday he would barely talk to me and now he has his arm around me.

"I'll help you. This is gonna be great!" Sirius says enthusiastically. "You've come to the right person."

**

* * *

**

-Brianna POV

-

"That's ridiculous!" I cry. Remus looks at me, wide-eyed.

"I swear on my life, that's exactly what happened," he tells me earnestly.

"Look, I know that Flitwick thinks you can do no harm, but that just doesn't sound right," I say skeptically.

"What? I have an honest face," Remus insists. I snort. He grins. "Bri, you know, snorting is very unattractive."

I narrow my eyes. "I'm pretty sure that those are my very own words."

He's about to reply, but something at the portrait hole catches his eye. I look over and see Sirius and Stella walk in. Sirius has his arm around Stella's shoulder. My eyes widen in shock. Then I grin at Remus.

"See? I guess it's a good thing I talked to Sirius," I say in satisfaction. "Lucky thing I didn't listen to you."

Remus looks uncertain. "I have a feeling that's not so much due to your work. Stella's the one who asked to talk to Sirius."

Stella looks uncomfortable and quickly hurries up to the girl's dorm. Sirius spots the two of us and saunters over. He squeezes in between us.

"Well…" I prompt, looking at him.

He frowns. "Well, what?" then his face lights up. "Oh, guess what?"

"What?" I ask, giving Remus a knowing look.

"I'm going to the Hogsmeade trip with Laura Wilkinson," he announces.

Remus grins at me. I look at Sirius uncertainly. "That's still awhile from now, what if you change your mind?" Because, honestly, this is Sirius we're talking about.

"Oh, I haven't asked her yet. I'll wait until closer to the trip," he says. "Trust me, I've made that mistake before."

I shake my head at how confident Sirius is that Laura is going to say yes. The unfortunate part is that she probably will say yes. Sirius is the most sought after boy in Hogwarts. The funny thing is, he makes fun of James constantly for his obsession over Lily, but I think he's secretly glad. Otherwise, James would provide some serious competition.

"What about Stella?" I ask.

Sirius looks at me as though I'm crazy. "What about her? I'm not taking her to Hogsmeade! Look, I'll be nice to her if you want, but I am not going to date her."

Remus laughs. "I think what she is asking is: what happened with you and Stella?"

"Oh, that," Sirius says. "She wanted some help…um, you know, with… Transfiguration."

I narrow my eyes. "She asked you for help with Transfiguration? Why would she do that?"

"Because I happen to be very good at Transfiguration," Sirius replies, looking offended. "I got an O on my OWL! What did you get again? Oh that's right, you only got an E."

I glare at him. "Remus and Lily both got O's in that, so why wouldn't she ask them?"

"Sorry, Brianna, but I didn't ask," Sirius huffs.

"Okay you two, that's enough," Remus breaks in, trying to hide his grin.

"Yes, Dad," Sirius grumbles.

* * *

A/N: Please review!!!


	5. One of Those Days

**Chapter 5: One of Those Days**

**-No POV-**

A month flew by for the 6th year Gryffindors, each day filled with classes and homework. For those on the quidditch team the pressure of their NEWT level classes were accompanied with the pressure of a game that was quickly approaching. In one week the Gryffindor team would be playing Slytherin. Tension were high among both houses. James had added so many more practices that even Macy, only a second year, was finding her days so full that she barely got her work done on time. As much as everyone wanted to beat Slytherin, the only other person as dedicated as James was Abbey. Which wasn't surprising to anyone. She had the energy to practice for hours a day, do her work, and have some more left over to entertain her fellow Gryffindors.

Brianna stomped into the common room on Sunday night to see a group of giggling students, mostly third and fourth year, gathered around the announcement board. She walked past. As she did she heard snippets of 'Hogsmeade' and 'Halloween'. She spotted James sitting in the corner, staring blankly at one of his school books. Next to him was Marlene. She walked over to them and sat down in an empty chair.

"Hey," she greeted glumly, pulling out a book of her own. She had to write two feet for McGonagall by the next day.

Marlene looked up, grinning. "Finally! I've been going out of my mind with boredom."

"Sorry, but I really have to get started on this essay," Brianna said, pulling out a quill. Marlene slumped. "James doesn't seem to be doing any work. Why doesn't he entertain you?"

"What?" James snapped his head up, breaking out of his thoughts. Brianna laughed.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"I was just thinking…" his eyes slid hesitantly towards Marlene then back to Brianna.

"About?" Brianna prompted. James bit his bottom lip nervously.

"I was trying to decide if I should…if I should ask Lily to the Hogsmeade trip on Halloween," James stared intently at the table. "I just thought…I mean, she's been really nice to me lately and I guess we've kind of become friends, so I thought maybe…" he trailed off.

"Here's the thing," Brianna said gently. "I think you've made amazing progress with Lily. I don't know if she has feelings for you other than as a friend. But becoming friends with Lily is almost a miracle, really. I have no idea if she would say yes or not if you asked her to Hogsmeade. However, if you want to add to the progress you've made and really help yourself out, I wouldn't ask her.

"There are two scenarios that I see. The first is that she would not say yes and would be really impressed if you didn't ask her. The second is that she would have said yes and maybe would even be a bit disappointed if you don't ask her. If this is the case, then when she realizes that she's disappointed that you didn't ask her, she'll also realize that she must have some sort of feelings for you. Either way, she would see that you are taking your friendship with her seriously. If you want Lily to go out with you then she needs to know that you really value her as a friend first."

James and Marlene just stared at Brianna. She shrugged. "You do whatever you want, but I know Lily really well. I can guarantee you that you'll be way better off not asking her."

"That was very insightful," Marlene looked impressed. James looked disappointed, but he nodded.

"Okay," he said. "I think you're right. I'm not going to ask her." Then he grinned. "With any luck we'll be dating by Christmas."

Brianna just laughed and shook her head. She heard a familiar laugh echo hers. She glanced around to see Sirius sitting across the common room on a couch next to Stella. He was laughing at her and Brianna could see that her face was bright red. She turned and grinned at James and Marlene.

"That is all my doing," she announced, nodding in their direction.

"How is that your doing?" Marlene asked, looking skeptical.

"Lena, do you have no faith in me?" Brianna asked, using her nickname for Marlene. "Sirius was being a prat and I told him he had to be friendly. Now, because of me, they've become friends."

"I don't know," James frowned. "He said he's just helping her with something."

"He wouldn't have agreed if it weren't for me," Brianna reasoned. "Because they've been working together, they are getting along brilliantly."

James rolled his eyes. Then he glanced at her empty parchment. "I thought you had an essay to write?"

Brianna looked down. "Bloody hell."

* * *

Stella walked into the common room. It was quite full with everyone catching up on the work that they had due the next day. She'd finished hers the day before. She clutched a parchment as she walked hesitantly towards where Sirius was sitting alone on a couch. She was actually nervous about whether she had done a good enough job on the assignment he'd given her. She reached the couch and sat down beside him, handing him her parchment without a word. Sirius studied her before beginning to read what she had written. She saw his eyes widen as he got closer to the bottom. She fidgeted nervously, but soon it became too much.

"Look, it's obviously horrible. Just tell me the truth," she said quickly. He looked up, raising an eyebrow. His silence was very disconcerting. Then she saw him smirk.

"You think this is horrible?" he asked calmly. Stella was surprised when she suddenly had the desire to hit him. Why wouldn't he just come out with the truth already?

"Well, I thought it was okay, but…you think it's horrible, don't you?"

"What you've written here," Sirius intentionally took a long pause, "this is very, very…well, I'd have to say…I think that you…"

"Sirius Black, just tell me already!" Stella cried impatiently. Sirius' smirk only grew.

"I'll be honest with you," Sirius said, pausing again and snickering as her eyes narrowed dangerously. "Okay, okay. This is actually really brilliant."  
Stella stared at him, shocked. "Really?"

"Honest. This is one of the best pranks I've seen in a long time," Sirius told her. "Not only that, but there's absolutely no way you'll get caught."

"What do you mean 'no way I'll get caught'?" Stella could see that this was not headed anywhere good.

"I thought it was pretty self explanatory," Sirius frowned. "I meant that none of the teachers will ever catch you when you – "

"The only way I would have the opportunity to be caught is if I actually pulled this prank," Stella said slowly.

"Right," Sirius said. Then a look of realization came across his face. "I thought I told you that you were planning a prank that you were actually going to do."

"Sirius! You never said that!" Stella exclaimed in distress. "I can't do this. Do you know how much trouble I could – "

"That's my point, you won't get in any trouble," Sirius said. "I thought you wanted me to help you out. If not, then I'll just – "

"Fine!" Stella said, regretting it the instant it came out of her mouth. "I'll do it."

"Good," Sirius grinned. "Don't worry. I'll be doing it with you. I'd never make you do your first prank alone."

Stella didn't say that this was not only her first, but also her last. It didn't seem important enough to point out.

"I am going to pound his face in if he doesn't just back off!" came an exclamation. Stella and Sirius looked up to see Abbey talking animatedly to Mary, who was listening with a small smile on her face. Sirius just shook his head and turned back to Stella.

"So, did you finish all your homework?" He asked.

Stella was surprised. He wasn't usually concerned about her doing her work. "Yes. I went to the library yesterday."

"Have you not listened to anything that I have said?!" Sirius exclaimed. Stella was taken aback.

"What?"

"Look around you," Sirius said, sounding irritated. "What do you see?"

"People doing work," Stella answered, confused.

"Exactly!" Sirius said. "Everyone's doing their work because they've put it off until the day before it's due. If you want to fit in then you need to stop getting your work done early! No one does work on a Saturday that they can get done on a Sunday."

Stella frowned. "So I'm supposed to fail my classes just because everyone else does their homework at the last minute?"

"Is your work going to be any worse if you do it on Sunday instead of Saturday?"

"Well, no, but…what about them?" Stella motioned to a table where Lily, Alice, and Remus were all sitting, chatting with eachother. "They were all in the library yesterday, too."

"Don't worry about them. They're the exception. Lily is really assertive and has a horrible temper, it helps her somehow. I can't see that you would dare raise your voice to anyone. Alice is really outgoing and friendly. She's probably one of the nicest people in the school."

"I'm not nice?" Stella asked uncertainly.

"Sure, you're nice," Sirius shrugged. "But you're a bit reserved, so it doesn't work in your favor the way it does for her. Remus…well, Remus is a Marauder. Plus, he's so helpful and approachable. Everyone loves him."

"I understand," Stella said, nodding. "I have no good qualities."  
Sirius rolled his eyes. "That's not what I said. I'm just saying that if you want to fit in it might help you not to spend your Saturdays in the library, that's all. It's your choice."

"What about you? You're not doing work either," Stella pointed out.

"That's because I haven't started yet."

"Fine. Whatever you say," She sighed. She was beginning to think this whole thing had been a stupid idea. Sirius didn't agree and kept insisting that stopping now would be the stupid idea. For some reason she found herself listening to what he told her.

She started to get up, but Sirius stopped her. "By the way, I figured out your secret."

Stella stopped and looked at him blankly.

Sirius grinned. "I finally figured out why you came to me for help," he said. Stella had no idea what he was talking about.

"Why is that?" she asked, playing along.

"Because you have a crush on someone," Sirius sang. "It makes perfect sense. Why else would you come to me? And I know who it is."

"How do you know?"

Stella was horrified. How could he know? She herself had only just started to think that maybe she had a tiny, little crush on –

"You like Remus," Sirius' eyes lit up. Stella could feel her face getting red. Sirius laughed loudly at her embarrassment. He thought that she had a crush on Remus. Her first instinct was to immediately deny it. Unfortunately, she had just confirmed that she did like someone. Even if she wasn't sure about her feelings, she couldn't risk Sirius finding out. She knew that if she denied it then he would pry until he found out who it was that she actually did have feelings for. She figured that she'd rather have Sirius think she had a crush on Remus than actually knowing the truth.

"Well…you got me," Stella gave a weak smile.

"Perfect, because I think you're ready to move on to step two," Sirius said, his grin growing.

"What's that?" Stella asked apprehensively. She was finding that when Sirius grinned nothing good ever followed.

"I call it 'Dating Remus Lupin.'"

Stella just couldn't quite remember how she had gotten herself into this whole mess to begin with.

* * *

"I can't focus on this!" Abbey exclaimed, pushing her parchment and books away from her. Mary looked up from her own work and smiled. Abbey could rarely focus on her work. Lately, however, it had been worse than usual.

"Abbey, the game's a week away," Mary reasoned. "The team's going to do great. How could you not? You've spent any spare time practicing."  
"Well, we should be practicing now," Abbey huffed.

"Even James isn't that crazy," Mary said. "Besides, I don't think anyone other than you would put up with that."

"Oh, James is that crazy. The only reason he won't do it is because McGonagall said he has to give us Sundays off," Abbey said glumly. Mary chuckled.

Abbey jumped up suddenly. "Slytherin has to go down!" she exclaimed with fervor, startling Mary. "This is our one chance to beat them!"  
"Well, it's not your _one_ chance. We play them every year."

"We play them only once a year," Abbey became more animated, "Plus, we only have two more years. This is Slytherin. We HAVE to win."

"Abbey, honestly, it's not – "

"I intend to wipe the smirk of Regulus Black's face," Abbey insisted. "Do you know what he did to me the other day?"

Abbey began a detailed account of all of her recent encounters with the Slytherins. As the game neared closer, more and more trouble had been occurring between the two houses, particularly those on the quiddtich teams. Her animated explanations were getting a lot of attention from those sitting nearby. Mary was amused by Abbey's antics but also uncomfortable with the attention that Abbey was attracting. However, being best friends with Abbey she had had to learn to deal with that type of thing. She preferred remaining as unnoticed as possible. Unfortunately Abbey made this very difficult.

"I am going to pound his face in if he doesn't just back off!" Abbey finished loudly. Regulus Black and Abbey had formed a particularly strong rivalry towards each other when it came to quidditch.

Mary couldn't help but smile at Abbey.

"Abs, sit down," she reasoned with her friend. "I'll help you with your work."

Abbey reluctantly sat down, took a deep breath, and returned to the essay she had due the next day. The two worked in silence for about five minutes when Abbey looked up.

"Do you have a date to Hogsmeade?" Abbey asked. Mary sighed and rolled her eyes. It didn't seem as if they were going to get any work done.

"No," Mary answered, "they just put up the flyer today. Besides, who would I go with?"

"I don't know," Abbey shrugged. Then she grinned. "I thought I saw Gideon Prewitt eyeing you the other day."

Mary looked horrified and began to blush. "I doubt that."

"Honest," Abbey said. "You know, I'm friends with him. I could put in a good word."

"No, I don't want to go with him! I don't need a date to Hogsmeade," Mary insisted, ready to change the subject. Abbey just shrugged again and said nothing, returning to her work. They worked silently for ten minutes. Mary was becoming very impressed with her friend when Abbey looked up again.

"This is rubbish. I can't concentrate."

* * *

"Mind if I sit here?" Lily looked up to see Remus standing behind the empty chair at their table. She smiled.

"Of course not," she answered, clearing some of her things away. She had finished her work for Monday the day before and had just finished getting a head start on the rest of the week. Remus sat down.

"What are you two doing?" he asked.

"Nothing, really," Alice answered, "We've finished all our work, but barely anyone else has."

"I've been finished too, but all my friends have loads to do," Remus said.

"You mean, all your friends except us," Lily said pointedly with a grin.

"Sirius doesn't seem to be doing any work," Alice nodded towards Sirius, who was talking to Stella. Remus rolled his eyes.

"He hasn't even started yet," he replied. Alice smiled.

"I just don't understand how he seems to do so little work, but does so well in most of his classes."

"It's infuriating," Lily said, narrowing her eyes at Sirius. Alice laughed at her friend.

"Speaking of infuriating," Alice grinned at Remus, "what exactly happened with you and Bria the other day? She says she refuses to speak to you."

Remus chuckled. "I don't know why she refuses to speak to me. It was her fault that we got in trouble."

"What did she do?" Lily asked.

"We were partnered together in Herbology," Remus said, amused by the whole situation. "Remember that assignment we had in class on Wednesday? So we were working on it. Well, I was mostly working on it. She was watching some group of Slytherins, Darcie and Narcissa mainly. Then she tried hexing them."

Lily shook her head, disapproving. "She didn't mention that."

"Well, she missed and hit their plant. Narcissa ended up getting bitten by the plant and had to go to the Hospital Wing. That's how we got detention," Remus looked a little sheepish. "She might be mad at me because I instantly said 'It wasn't me' when Professor Sprout came over to us. She seemed a little too happy that I still got in trouble."

Alice laughed loudly. "She made it seem like you got her in trouble." Remus smiled, glancing over at Brianna who was laughing at something James had said. He saw Brianna look over at Sirius who was laughing at Stella.

"What are you going to do for the next Hogsmeade trip?" Lily asked Alice, breaking Remus out of his thoughts. Alice looked down at the table with a small smile.

"Well, I have a date," she said quietly. Lily's eyes widened.

"You already have a date?" she asked eagerly. "With who?"

"Frank," Alice said happily, looking up at her two friends.

"That's great," Remus said.

"You're going with Frank Longbottom? Really?" Lily leaned closer to Alice.

Alice looked self-conscious, but had a huge smile. "Yeah. Well, we've been talking a lot recently and he asked me this morning. He's really nice."

"And much more responsible than his friends," Lily pointed out. Frank was good friends with Fabian and Gideon Prewitt, who were second only to the Marauders as school troublemakers. Remus laughed at Lily. Trust her to place importance on whether or not he was responsible. It was those types of things that made Remus feel bad for James.

"Are you going with anyone?" Alice asked Remus, eager to get the focus off of her.

"Do I ever?" Remus joked. Lily was looking at him thoughtfully.

"You should ask someone," she said.

"Who do you propose I ask?" Remus asked her. Lily glanced quickly towards the corner of the room, where James was sitting with Brianna and Marlene. She shrugged.

"I don't know. You just never ask anyone. I'm sure there are a ton of girls who would love to go with you," Lily grinned.

"You're not going with anyone either, are you?" Remus asked pointedly. Lily got asked often, but rarely went with any boys.

She frowned, looking down at the table. "Well, no, but…" Remus was satisfied that he had made his point. He saw her glance again towards the table in the corner. He had a feeling that if James were to ask her she might actually say yes. However, even though they had become friendly, she seemed to be in denial about any feelings towards James other than as a friend. "Remus!" a voice called. The three looked up to see Brianna turned towards them.

"So much for not talking to you," Alice joked.

"What?" Remus answered warily.

"Can you please, please, please help me with my Transfiguration paper?" Brianna pleaded, using her convincing expression. Remus found that he could rarely resist that expression.

"Sure," Remus responded, starting to get up from his seat.

"Hey! Why don't you ever ask me for help?" Sirius demanded from his seat. "Don't forget, I got an O on my Transfiguration OWL." Remus knew that he didn't really want to help her, but he just liked rubbing it in that he got an O and she didn't.

Brianna rolled her eyes. "No thanks! There's no way I'm going to get help on my school work from you. I don't care what grades you've gotten. I doubt you've opened a book all week!"

"I resent that!"

Alice grinned at Remus. "Good luck!"

* * *

Please review!!!


	6. Hit Me With Your Best Shot

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. Also, all the information about the professional quidditch teams is from hp-lexicon, I did not make it up. I have one other disclaimer about this chapter, but as I don't want to ruin the story for you, I'm going to put it at the end. **

**

* * *

Chapter 6: Hit Me With Your Best Shot**

**-Brianna POV-**

"What are you doing?" Lily asks sleepily. I am making a lot of noise in my rush to get downstairs.

"I have to get down to the Great Hall for breakfast," I say quietly, not wanting to wake the rest of my dorm mates. "James is going to kill me if I'm late."

"Don't run," she mutters before laying back down.

I hurry out of the room and run down the stairs. I race to the portrait hole and I'm halfway there when I hit something. I start to stumble backward but a hand reaches out and steadies me before I hit the ground. I look up and see Remus smiling down at me.

"Are you okay?" he asks with concern.

"I'm fine," I say in a hurry. "But I won't be if I don't get downstairs for breakfast within the next five minutes."

Remus laughs, running a hand through his hair. Which I have to admit is very nice. His hair, I mean. He may not spend all of the time on it that Sirius does, but I personally think he has nicer hair than Sirius.

"Well, I won't keep you then," he says. "I wouldn't want anything to happen to our star Seeker right before the big game."

"That's probably the only thing that will keep James from doing something too drastic," I grin back before rushing out of the common room. When I finally enter the Great Hall I see the rest of our team sitting at the Gryffindor table. Other than the Slytherin team, there aren't many other students at breakfast yet. I sit down quietly next to Abbey, hoping to avoid James' wrath. He seems to be too preoccupied by the upcoming game to even give me very much attention.

I begin piling food on my plate. As I start to eat I notice that Sirius is the only other one eating as much as I am. In fact, no one else seems to have much of an appetite. Even James is just staring at his food. Then he looks up and sees that everyone else – other than Sirius and I – aren't eating either. He starts to bully them into eating.

"You haven't taken a bite," Abbey challenges. Macy starts to eat, glancing at James nervously.

James looks at his food and then forces himself to take a bite of toast. Everyone is so quiet. It's making me uncomfortable so I begin a conversation with Sirius. He seems grateful for a break in the silence.

"I'm telling you!" Sirius is insisting as Remus reaches the table and sits down. He, unlike me, did not run through the halls and therefore took much longer to reach the Great Hall. "James doesn't believe me either. The Cannons are going to win the next League Cup."

"That's insane!" I argue. "The Cannons never win! They haven't won since 1892. The Magpies are clearly the best in the League."

"Just because they never win doesn't mean they won't win this year," Sirius says. Abbey mutters something under her breath. Sirius looks over at her, narrowing his eyes.

"What's that, Hewitt?" he asks.

She rolls her eyes. "Obviously the Arrows are going to win. They have absolutely no competition."

"You're just saying that because you're an Arrows fan," Sirius accuses. I agree. Abbey is a faithful fan of the Appleby Arrows. She would never dare to say anything bad about them.

"What do you think?" Sirius demands of Remus. He looks up in surprise.

"I have no idea," he says. Sirius shakes his head, muttering. I think I hear 'doesn't know a thing about quidditch.' I grin at Remus.

"I'm not so sure the Arrows are going to win," Stella says, taking a seat next to me. "The Cannons have quite a good team this year. I wouldn't be surprised if they finally win this year."

Sirius looks up at her in admiration, clearly impressed. She frowns at him, glances at me, then looks back at him. "What?"

"That's what I've been saying all along!" Sirius exclaims. "I didn't know you followed quidditch."

"Sure, I always have," Stella says as she puts some eggs on her plate. "Though I have to say I'm a fan of the Wimbourne Wasps."

Abbey scoffs and Sirius looks amazed. "Me too!" This is why Abbey and Sirius have never gotten along so well. Because Abbey is an Arrows fan and Sirius is a Wasps fan; and the teams are historically fierce rivals. Plus, no one takes professional quidditch more seriously that Abbey and Sirius. Not even James. James tends to be more obsessed with actually playing quidditch than following it. Though he and I both follow it avidly.

"James and Bria are Magpie fans," Sirius mutters to Stella in an irritated tone. "They only like the team because they have the most successful record."

"I know," Stella smiles, "that's what I've always said."

"I resent that!" I speak up. "That is not why I like the Magpies. Besides, I'll have you know that I also like the Kestrels and the Falcons."

Sirius rolls his eyes. "You only like the Kestrels because you think it's funny that the fans play harps and the Falcons because – "

" – they're so violent," Stella finishes. Sirius has this weird look on his face as he stares at Stella, but she doesn't notice. Remus laughs at his friends. I think Sirius might have just found the perfect girl for himself. Honestly, I've never heard anyone agree so much with Sirius about quidditch. Okay, so I'm just kidding. Not about the agreeing thing but about the perfect girl thing. Because that is ridiculous. I mean, Sirius would be lucky to have Stella as a girlfriend, but I would never wish that on Stella.

The Great Hall is starting to fill up as people finally come down for breakfast. The hall is buzzing with excitement. Everyone is eagerly anticipating the game. Gryffindor-Slytherin games are always the most exciting. The rest of my friends arrive and sit beside us. Lily looks at me suspiciously.

"Did I hear you run down the stairs after I clearly asked you not to?" she demands. I instantly put on my innocent expression.

"No! Of course not," I say. Remus is grinning but doesn't say anything. Which is nice of him because he usually doesn't approve of running in the halls either.

"Okay, time to go," James breaks in, standing up. The rest of the quidditch team stands as well, but I remain sitting. I have to finish my last few pieces of bacon. I start to eat more quickly.

"Brianna! Come on," James says forcefully. I look up.

"But – " he gives me a stern look and I sigh. I grab my bacon and get up to follow the team. Honestly, he can be so insufferable when it comes to quidditch.

As we leave the hall we are followed by applause. Every house, other than Slytherin, wants us to win.

Sirius grins at me. "You do know that they're all clapping for me, don't you?"

I may be friends with him, but I still often find myself fighting the urge to break his nose again.

**

* * *

-Lily POV-**

We're all sitting in the stands, excited for the first game of the year. I'm sitting with the rest of the 6th year Gryffindors. Even Dory decided to sit with us. She usually spends more time with her friends in Hufflepuff than with us. When Mary (who's actually a 5th year) voices her surprise Dory says, "I'm obviously going to support my team by sitting with the Gryffindors. It is my house, after all." Frank Longbottom is also sitting with us. Alice blushed slightly when he sat down next to her, but looks very happy.

"Hey," Remus greets, taking the empty seat next to me. Peter sits next to him.

"I'm so excited," Stella says enthusiastically from my other side. "We didn't have quidditch at Beauxbatons." I smile at her. Now that she's becoming more comfortable here I've noticed her opening up more. She's really such a nice girl.

"Well, you're in for a treat," Dory speaks up from behind us. "There's no quidditch rivalry that quite compares to the one between Gryffindor and Slytherin. The games can get very, er, interesting."

"She means violent," I say, disapproving. "I don't see how people getting hurt is a treat." I say to Dory pointedly. Dory just shrugs and smiles at me.

"They can be hard to watch sometimes," Alice tells Stella earnestly.

"Especially when Slytherin wins," Frank puts in. "I don't mind the violence if it knocks a Slytherin off of their broom and helps us win."

"Frank!" Alice looks horrified. He laughs at her.

"I wouldn't really want a Slytherin knocked off their broom," he admits. Alice looks satisfied until he adds, "because then we'd probably get a penalty and they'd have a good chance to score on us."

Just then the conversation is ended as the teams walk onto the field. The stands fill with applause. Sirius is wearing a huge smile and is waving to the students in the stands. The rest of the team is looking particularly grim. Except Abbey. She doesn't seem to be able to contain her excitement for the first game of the season.

"AND THE TEAMS TAKE THE FIELD," booms the magnified voice of Marlene. Marlene's always been a huge quidditch fan, but doesn't play, so she decided to announce. "THE GRYFFINDOR TEAM IS LOOKING PARTICULARLY SHARP TODAY, IF I DO SAY SO MYSELF." McGonagall, who supervises the announcing, must make a comment at this because Marlene then adds. "THE SLYTHERIN TEAM IS LOOKING, ER, NICER THAN USUAL."

"JAMES POTTER AND RODOLPHUS LESTRANGE, THE CAPTAINS, ARE NOW SHAKING HANDS. JAMES, YOU MIGHT WANT TO WASH YOUR HANDS AFTER THE GAME. JUST KIDDING, PROFESSOR."

Down on the field I can see Bria grin. She looks up to the box where Marlene is sitting with the Professors and gives her a thumbs up. Remus and Frank both laugh.

Madame Hooch blows her whistle and the players kick off from the ground. "AND THE PLAYERS ARE OFF. POTTER IMMEDIATELY GAINS POSSESSION AND RACES TOWARDS THE HOOPS. HE PASSES TO PREWITT. THE BALL IS INTERCEPTED BY LESTRANGE. LESTRANGE CHANGES DIRECTIONS. LESTRANGE PASSES TO MULCIBER, MULCIBER PASSES TO VANCE. VANCE SHOOTS. YES! WAY TO GO ABBEY! HEWITT BLOCKS THE SHOT EASILY."

Cheers erupt from the stands. Everyone is intensely watching the game. The play continues for five more minutes until James scores a point for Gryffindor. I'm on my feet, cheering with the rest of the Gryffindor supporters. James finally smiles for what I think must be the first time today.

"AND POTTER SCORES THE FIRST GOAL OF THE GAME. THE SCORE IS 20-0 GRYFFINDOR. THE SLYTHERINS DO NOT LOOK TOO HAPPY. LESTRANGE SEEMS TO BE YELLING AT THE KEEPER, MALFOY. DARCIE MALFOY IS THE ONLY GIRL I'VE SEEN ON THE SLYTHERIN TEAM SINCE I STARTED AT HOGWARTS. I DON'T KNOW WHAT THE SLYTHERINS HAVE AGAINST GIRLS, BUT – ER, SORRY PROFESSOR."

The play begins again. Our team seems to be energized by the first goal and quickly scores another. I clap excitedly as James gives Macy a high-five. Macy looks ecstatic to have scored.

"GRYFFINDOR LEADS 40-0! LESTRANGE NOW HAS THE QUAFFLE AND IS SPEEDING TOWARDS THE GRYFFINDOR HOOPS AND HE – POTTER SEEMS TO HAVE SPOTTED THE SNITCH. SHE IS RACING TOWARDS THE SLYTHERIN HOOPS. BLACK IS WAY TOO FAR BEHIND. SHE IS NOW REACHING OUT HER HAND. THERE'S THE SNITCH! SHE'S ABOUT TO GET THE SNITCH! SHE'S ALMOST THERE. BLOODY HELL!"

The announcing suddenly breaks off. Mulciber, a Slytherin chaser, just flew straight for Bria and forced her to veer off course. The stands erupt in outraged cries. I make sure Bria's okay. She seems to just be angry. I glance over at Remus and see that he also looks worried.

"SORRY PROFESSOR, IT WON'T HAPPEN AGAIN," Marlene continues. "MULCIBER JUST CLEARLY FOULED POTTER. WHY HASN'T THE FOUL BEEN CALLED? BLACK HITS A BLUDGER STRAIGHT FOR MULCIBER. UNFORTUNATELY IT ONLY HITS HIS BROOM. HIS BROOM GOES SPINNING AWAY, BUT HE IS ABLE TO GAIN CONTROL. NOW MADAME HOOCH BLOWS HER WHISTLE. SHE'S CALLING A FOUL ON GRYFFINDOR. WHAT ABOUT THE FOUL ON BRIANNA? I'LL ADMIT THAT BLACK HIT A BLUDGER AT MULCIBER WHEN HE WAS NOWHERE NEAR THE QUAFFLE. BUT MULCIBER SHOULD ALSO GET A FOUL. JAMES MUST AGREE BECAUSE HE IS NOW ARGUING WITH HOOCH. SHE DOESN'T SEEM TO BE CHANGING HER MIND. I THINK POTTER IS GIVING UP."

James looks very upset, but flies away. I can see that Bria is wearing a very grim expression. James and Abbey may be known to be obsessed with quidditch, but the whole team takes it very seriously. Bria can be very hard on herself when she doesn't get the snitch. If Gryffindor doesn't win then Bria blames herself. Not even James takes a loss as hard as Bria.

"THE PLAYERS GET IN PLACE AS MULCIBER PREPARES FOR THE FOUL SHOT. HE SHOOTS. HEWITT LUNGES TOWARDS TO FURTHEST HOOP, WHERE THE QUAFFLE IS HEADED, BUT SHE MISSES IT BY INCHES. THE QUAFFLE GOES IN AND SLYTHERIN HAS NOW DECREASED THE GRYFFINDOR LEAD BY TWENTY. THE SCORE IS NOW 40-20. POTTER IS CALLING A TIME-OUT FOR GRYFFINDOR."

The players all fly to the field where James has just landed. He begins talking animatedly to them. Sirius is looking furious. Marlene continues talking to fill the time.

"FUN FACT: THERE ARE THREE PAIRS OF SIBLINGS ON THE GRYFFINDOR TEAM. HEWITT, PREWITT, AND OF COURSE POTTER. COINCIDENTALLY, HEWITT AND PREWITT ARE ALMOST IDENTICAL SOUNDING. IN FACT, SIRIUS BLACK IS THE ONLY PLAYER ON THE TEAM WITHOUT A SIBLING ON THE TEAM. WHAT IS EVEN MORE INTERESTING IS THAT HIS BROTHER IS ON THE SLYTERHIN TEAM, MEANING THAT THERE ARE FOUR PAIRS OF SIBLINGS IN THIS GAME. ALSO, NO PAIR OF SIBLINGS PLAYS THE SAME POSITION. SO UNLESS YOU ARE DAFT YOU OBVIOUSLY KNOW WHO I AM REFERRING TO WHEN I SAW A PLAYER'S LAST NAME. FOR EXAMPLE, IF I SAY THAT HEWITT JUST BLOCKED A HOOP, I'M OBVIOUSLY TALKING ABOUT ABBEY, THE KEEPER. OR IF I SAY BLACK JUST CAUGHT THE SNITCH, I'M TALKING ABOUT REGULUS. THOUGH I WOULD NEVER ACTUALLY SAY THAT BECAUSE GRYFFINDOR IS GOING TO GET THE SNITCH."

I shake my head at this and grin. Only Marlene would go on about something like that.

**

* * *

-Sirius POV-**

I watch furiously as the Slytherins score their first points of the game. James calls a time-out and I follow the rest of the team to where he has landed by our hoops. Fabian flies beside and is muttering angrily. I know that if I hadn't hit that bludger at Mulciber, Fabian would have. We all land and gather around James.

"Slytherin should have gotten a foul!" I say to James as soon as I've joined the group. James gives a resigned sigh.

"I know. Hooch didn't see it, though. There's nothing we can do about it."

He looks at us for a moment. "I know this is difficult, but we have to play clean. We can't get anymore fouls. If we foul them they have an easy opportunity to score. Abbey's a brilliant Keeper, but foul shots are so difficult to block. We can't afford to let Slytherin score any more points."

"But Brianna had the snitch! Mulciber tried to knock her off her broom!" I exclaim.

"I know," James says. "I probably would have done the same thing. But we can't let them get anymore points. We all want this. Three-quarters of the school wants this, but I know that all of you want this more than anything. Macy has the next five years for chances to beat Slytherin. Most of us have another chance. So, if you're going to do this for anyone, at least do it for the twins. This is their last year. This is the last game they will ever play against Slytherin. I'd say that this game is second in importance only to winning the quidditch cup. We need to win this game. Let Slytherin make the fouls."

"You mean we're supposed to let them knock us off our brooms?" Gideon asks skeptically. I can see a glint of amusement in his eyes. If I weren't so angry I'd probably share his amusement.

James rolls his eyes. "No, obviously you should avoid getting hurt. I'm just saying that they can play dirty all they want, but you all need to try not to."

I'm about to protest when Bria speaks up.

"He's right," she says. I raise an eyebrow. She's the one who just got fouled. We all know how personally Bria takes it when she doesn't get the snitch. "We need to gain any advantage we can over Slytherin. We don't have this game in the bag. Regulus is a brilliant seeker and there's a very good chance he could get the snitch before me. We need to lead by as many points as possible."

At this point Hooch blows the whistle, ending the conversation. James looks at me meaningfully and I nod reluctantly. I know that he's right. I just wish he wasn't.

**

* * *

-Remus POV-**

Over the next fifteen minutes Gryffindor scores four times and Slytherin scores three times. We are only leading by forty points. Tensions are high. Gryffindor definitely has better chasers, as well as a brilliant keeper, but Regulus is an amazing seeker. He's really who their team relies on. Of course, Bria is also just as good, if not a little better. I've noticed that Regulus has begun tailing Bria closely.

"POTTER NOW HAS THE QUAFFLE. HE IS FLYING TOWARDS THE HOOPS. VANCE IS VERY CLOSE BEHIND HIM. HE'S PULLING UP BESIDE HIM. PUNCH IS UGLY FACE IN, JAMES! JUST KIDDING. VANCE IS RIGHT BESIDE POTTER. HE JUST TRIED TO PUSH JAMES OFF HIS BROOM! JAMES BARELY MANAGES TO KEEP FROM FALLING AND DROPS THE QUAFFLE."

As angry cries erupt from the stand Lily jumps up indignantly. She is cursing Avery. Stella looks a little shocked at Lily's behavior. Lily can actually get quite into quidditch games. I also think that the fact that it was James who was almost knocked off his broom has something to do with it. Though she would never admit it, I think she may be on the way to thinking of James as more than a friend. At least, if he plays his cards right. She's certainly quite concerned right now for his well-being.

"HOOCH BLOWS THE WHISTLE. SHE CALLS THE FOUL. JAMES IMMEDIATELY TAKES THE QUAFFLE. HOOCH BLOWS HER WHISTLE AGAIN. JAMES SHOOTS. MALFOY BLOCKS THE SHOT. LESTRANGE NOW HAS THE QUAFFLE AND IS RACING TOWARDS THE OTHER SIDE OF THE PITCH. THE REST OF THE PLAYERS ARE TRAILING WAY BEHIND HIM. I THINK THIS IS JUST GOING TO BE BETWEEN HIM AND HEWITT. HE'S DRAWING NEARER AND HE – POTTER SEEMS TO HAVE SPOTTED THE SNITCH! SHE IS FLYING TOWARDS THE GROUND, A SPOT NEAR THE GRYFFINDOR HOOPS. BLACK IS RIGHT ON HER TAIL. SHE IS ALMOST AT GROUND LEVEL. SHE PULLS UP AND – MERLIN, THAT DID NOT LOOK GOOD!"

Regulus plows into the ground. Bria turns sharply around and begins flying towards another spot at the other end of the pitch.

"POTTER IS NOW FLYING TOWARDS THE SLYTHERIN HOOPS. I SEE THE SNITCH! POTTER IS FLYING TOWARDS THE SNITCH! BLACK IS JUST GETTING BACK ON HIS BROOM, THERE IS NO WAY HE CAN CATCH UP. SHE PURPOSELY FAKED BLACK OUT. I'VE ALWAYS SAID THAT GIRL IS BRILLIANT! LESTRANGE JUST GRABBED AVERY'S BAT. HE HIT A BLUDGER THAT IS SAILING TOWARDS BRIANNA! WHAT A SLIMEBALL! I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS! WHAT A DIRTY, DESPICABLE, APPALLING, LOATHSOME – "

I glance up towards the professor's box, surprised that McGonagall is allowing Marlene to say these things. She usually doesn't. I see that McGonagall is looking as horrified as Marlene and seems to be yelling at the field.

"POTTER IS ALMOST TO THE SNITCH, BUT THE BLUDGER IS GETTING REALLY CLOSE. I DON'T THINK SHE CAN MAKE IT TO THE SNITCH WITHOUT GETTING HIT BY THE BLUDGER. SHE'S REACHING OUT FOR IT. SHE'S ALMOST THERE. SHE'S GOING TO HAVE TO SWERVE SOON OR THE BLUDGER IS GOING TO HIT HER!"

**

* * *

-Brianna POV-**

Regulus will not get off my tail. He has taken to trailing me very closely. Way too closely. I think that during the time-out Lestrange must have yelled at him for almost letting me get the snitch. He doesn't want to risk me seeing the snitch again and him being too far away to get there in time. The one problem with this strategy is that if he sees the snitch first I'll be close to him and be able to get there just as quickly. It's also just really annoying. I'm trying to shake him off, but it's not working. He will not back off. I finally give up and continue my search for the snitch. I will do whatever it takes to win this game.

I finally spot the snitch glittering over by the Slytherin hoops, feet away from Malfoy. I know if I go for it, though, Black could just as easily get it as I could. I need to get rid of him. Suddenly I have an idea. Keeping my eye discreetly on the snitch, I begin flying towards a spot on the ground at the other end of the pitch. Black takes the bait and begins speeding after me. Right before I've almost reached the ground I pull up suddenly and am satisfied to see him fly into the ground before he has time to stop himself. I turn quickly. I can, luckily, still see the snitch. It was a very risky move, I could have easily lost the snitch, but it worked. I begin flying as fast as I can towards the snitch. I might have temporarily lost Black, but he could still recover quickly and catch up. I'm already feeling triumphant as I get closer to the snitch. I know I'm going to get it.

Suddenly I hear Sirius shouting. I glance at him. He is speeding towards me. I glance to my other side and see a bludger soaring towards me. It is headed in the direction of the snitch. I have to get the snitch this time. I can't let the Slytherin team stop me again. I push my broom faster. If I'm lucky Sirius will get to the bludger quickly enough to hit it away. Now I'm only feet from the snitch, and the bludger is so close. I reach out. The snitch is inches from my hand. I can hear Sirius yelling, so close to me, telling me to get out of the way. My hands close around the cold metal ball. I grin. We've just won the game.

Before I have time to swerve out of the way I feel an extremely sharp pain on the side of my head. Then everything goes black.

* * *

**Disclaimer 2: The part where Lestrange grabs the bat from a beater: I'm pretty sure the same type of thing happens in one of the Harry Potter books. I can't remember which one, but it is not my own idea.**

A/N: I know that I just had a similar chapter ending, where Brianna goes unconscious while playing quidditch, but I've had this part planned way before the last chapter where it happened.


	7. Sweet Caroline

**Chapter 7: Sweet Caroline**

**-Brianna POV-**

I open my eyes. This is a very familiar sight. There is a group gathered around my bed. The whole team is here plus my friends.

"Wasn't it not long ago that I was knocked unconscious while playing quidditch and woke up to you all around me?" I joke weakly. James laughs. Lily doesn't look like she approves of joking about an incident like this.

"Except last time Remus was the one who kept you from hitting the ground," Sirius points out. "This time I was the one who saved you. If I hadn't caught you, there could have been some serious damage."

"Really? That was very thoughtful of you," I grin.

"You do realize that you that you just got hit in the head with a bludger, don't you?" Lily asks, somewhat shrilly. I do realize this, but I'm fine now.

"Lily, I'm fine," I say.

"Really?" Gideon speaks up. "You still remember your name?"

Fabian sniggers. "Do you remember what year it is? Who's Headmaster? What is the –"

"That is not funny," Lily says tartly. I can see that James is struggling to hide his amusement. Remus, on the other hand, seems to disapprove as well. What happened to these people's sense of humor?

"It is kind of funny," I tell Lily. Then I turn to the twins. "You two should go. I'm sure there's a party starting soon. I'm fine. You too, Macy. You don't need to stand around my bed."

"Well, if you insist," says Fabian. He grabs a piece of chocolate from the pile that has already formed beside my bed. Then he and Gideon leave. Macy gives me an enthusiastic hug before following them. There is still a large group around my bed. In fact, the only sixth year Gryffindor not here is Dory. Even Peter came. Abbey and Mary have also come to make sure I'm okay.

"I can't believe that bludger hit you," Alice says. "You didn't even have a chance to try to avoid it."

"Rotten Lestrange," Marlene mutters. "Lucky for him the game was over. Though I did overhear McGonagall talking to Slughorn and insisting that he get a detention. She was furious."

"I never knew she cared so much for me," I smile.

"I was shouting at you," Sirius frowns, "I thought for sure you heard me. I thought I saw you look right at the bludger."

"Well…" I hesitate, avoiding Lily's gaze in particular. "I did see the bludger that whole time – "

"What?" Lily exclaims.

"I knew the bludger was coming, but I had to get the snitch. I couldn't let it get away again," I tell them. Lily and Remus both gasp. Stella looks horrified and Abbey looks impressed.

"It was a bloody brilliant catch," Abbey says. Then she frowns. "I blame James."

"Excuse me?" James is indignant.

"She's right, mate," Sirius adds. "You put so much pressure on us to win. You know how much Bria takes that pressure on herself. You were going on and on about how we had to win."

Lily does not look happy. I feel bad for James, who is looking horrified.

"It's not his fault," I say. "I went for the snitch because I wanted to win. Do you really think I'd risk getting hurt just because of what James said?"

"She's got a point," Marlene says.

I yawn. "You should all go to the common room. You don't need to hang around here. I'm fine and I'm sure there's a victory party going on."

"I'll stay with you," James and Lily say simultaneously. They look at each other in surprise. Marlene chuckles.

" No. I'm really fine. Plus, I'll probably fall asleep, I'm really tired," I tell them. "Beside, James, I know you really want to go to the party."

They both look reluctant to leave. So do Stella and Remus. I know that Sirius, Abbey, and Marlene are all eager to join the party. After saying goodbye they begin to file out. I can see Madame Pomfrey across the room looking relieved. Remus is the last one to leave.

"Remus," I say as he begins to walk away. He turns around quickly. I smile ruefully at him. "Do you think you could hand me a piece of chocolate before you go?" I gesture toward the candy that is just out of my reach.

Remus smiles and walks over to get me some chocolate. He is the one who truly understands my love of chocolate. Similar to the way that Sirius understands my love of food.

He hands me the chocolate. "Thanks," I say. He hesitates, then he sits in the chair beside my bed.

I frown. "Aren't you going to go to the party?"

"I'm sure I won't miss much," he grins. "I don't want to leave you here all alone."

Aw. Isn't Remus just the sweetest? It is nice not to be completely alone. Especially when the rest of my house is currently having a party and I can't be there.

"I always knew there was a reason I liked you the best of all James' friends," I say.

Madame Pomfrey bustles over. She's holding a goblet. She doesn't look too happy that Remus is there, but I know that she's glad that there's not a huge crowd anymore.

"Drink this," she says, handing me the goblet. "It will make you sleepy. Once you wake up in the morning you should be feeling much better and you'll be able to leave."

I hold the goblet up to my face as she leaves. I sniff. It smells horrible. I must be making a disgusted face because Remus laughs at me. I take a deep breath, close my eyes, and gulp it down.

This stuff tastes horrible!

**

* * *

-James POV-**

Lily is dragging us into the library. She decided that, after all the time we've been spending on quidditch lately, we need to get some work done. Bria shoots me a glum look behind Lily's back. Bria was barely out of the Hospital Wing for an hour when Lily decided that it was time to study. I guess I should be happy that Lily now cares enough to force me to do work. Even if it's just as a friend. But it's hard to be happy about doing work when I'd really rather be doing something else.

We reach a table that Remus is sitting at, doing work. Lily forces us into seats next to each other and then takes her own seat.

"What about Sirius?" I complain as Lily places books in front of us. "Why doesn't he have to come to the library?"

"He's helping Stella with Transfiguration," Lily replies promptly. Bria and I exchange skeptical glances. I know that she agrees with me that this is not very likely. There is something else going on. I just have no idea what it is.

"I doubt that. Stella doesn't need help in Transfiguration. She's better than I am at it," I say.

"Maybe that's because Sirius has been helping her," Remus points out.

"What about Marlene?" Bria asks.

"She hasn't gotten behind lately because of quidditch," Lily says, getting impatient.

"You do realize that I was just in the Hospital Wing for a head injury, don't you?" Bria is even more unhappy about coming to the library than I am.

"Even more reason why you should be here," Lily says. "You've done absolutely no work all weekend. I know for a fact that you have a lot due tomorrow."

"Don't you two think you're being a bit overdramatic?" Remus asks.

"You try being dragged to the library and see how you like it!" Bria says emphatically.

"Bri, I _am_ at the library." Even though Remus is acting like we're being all unreasonable, I can tell that he's getting a lot of amusement out of our misery. Which is a little morbid, if you ask me.

"Remus, don't make me have to – " Bria begins, but is interrupted.

"Um, Remus?" we all look up to see a fifth year Gryffindor who has approached our table. I don't remember her name.

"Hi, Caroline," Remus greets the girl. Oh, right. Remus is always so good at remembering peoples' names. That's probably one of the reasons that he's a prefect and I'm not. Besides the fact that I am one of the biggest troublemakers in the school, of course.

"I, er, I was just wondering if…" she hesitates. I glance at Bria to see that she's not looking at the girl too fondly. Caroline doesn't notice, however. "…if you would go to Hogsmeade with me this Saturday."

Okay, I did not see that coming. Not that it's so surprising that Remus would get asked to Hogsmeade. I just wasn't expecting that. Apparently, neither was Remus. He is looking very shocked. I know what is coming. He is going to say yes just to be nice. Typical Remus.

"Er, yeah, sure," he says, sounding flustered. What did I say? I know Remus. Because of this I can tell that he instantly regrets what he said as soon as Caroline hurries off to her giggling group of friends. Bria stares after the girl quite moodily. I wonder why Bria seems to dislike her so much? Remus puts his head in his hands with a sigh.

Lily must be able to read Remus as well as I can, because she says, "It's just one Hogsmeade trip. It won't be so bad. Plus, she's really sweet."

"I know. She's a nice girl. I was just hoping to go with my friends," Remus says.

"Yeah, the one year Sirius doesn't have a date, you do," I complain with a grin.

"I forgot I'm supposed to meet Marlene in five minutes," Bria speaks up suddenly. We all look at her in surprise. She quickly puts her books in her bag.

"You have to meet Marlene? About what?" Lily asks skeptically.

"I can't tell you," Bria says shortly. She grabs her bag and is out of the library instantly.

We all look at each other. "That was weird," Lily says.

"Really weird," Remus echoes.

"This is Bria we're talking about," I say. "Weird is normal for her."

They both give me a look. Lily raises an eyebrow. "What?" I demand.

"You're one to talk," Remus says. Why does it always feel as if everyone is ganging up on me? That's why I like having Sirius around. He takes all of the negative focus of off me. Plus, he seems to enjoy it anyway.

**

* * *

-Sirius POV-**

"So, lucky for you, I've decided that we'll put that prank on hold," I tell Stella. She sighs in relief. "Instead, we are going to focus on my new plan."

She eyes me warily. "What's your new plan?"

"I already told you!" I say, " 'Date Remus Lupin'"

She grins at me. "You're trying to date Remus? I didn't know you felt that way."

"Oh, haha. Look, I like that you're developing a sense of humor. I just think you should work on making jokes about other people," I say.

"I hate to break it to you, but I always had a sense of humor," Stella rolls her eyes. The fact that she is now rolling her eyes is also a great accomplishment. "It's not as if I had no personality and you are creating it for me, or something. I'm still the same person."

"Well, that's debatable," I say. She narrows her eyes and looks scarily the way Bria did before she broke my nose. I shiver. I really hate that look.

Lucky for me, Bria walks into the common room at that very moment. She comes over to us. "Have either of you seen Marlene?"

"No," I answer. Stella shakes her head. Bria lets out a deep breath of frustration and takes a seat on the chair across from us.

"You don't have a date for Hogsmeade, Stella, do you?" Bria asks suddenly.

"No," she answers.

Bria smiles. "Well, we'll have fun. It'll be us, James, Lily – "

"Me and Remus," I add with a smile. Stella looks at me in surprise. Bria looks glum.

"Not Remus," she says, not happy. "He has a date."

"With who?" I ask. I'm surprised. I didn't think that Remus was going to get a date. I happen to know that he usually doesn't like to go with a date at all.

A group of giggling girls enter the common room. Bria shoots them a venomous look. "Her," she answers, pointing out one girl.

My eyes narrow. "Not Caroline?" Bria just nods. "I can't stand that girl!"

"I know," Bria answers. "Me either."

"Why would Remus want to go with her?" I say. Remus is a great friend, but he has made a horrible mistake. Caroline is probably my least favorite person. Not including all Slytherins, of course.

"Who giggles that much?" Bria asks, glaring across the room at the group of girls. "I honestly don't think it's natural."

"I thought you were going to Hogsmeade with Laura Wilkinson," Stella says. I look at her and frown.

"What?" Then I remember. "Oh yeah. I forgot about that. No, I decided not to ask her. She's kind of boring."

"One person around here has some common sense," Bria mutters.

Marlene enters the room. "Bria," she says, sitting down on the couch next to me. "I heard we have a secret meeting that I'm apparently late for."

Bria's eyes widen. "You saw Lily?" she asks. Marlene nods. "What did you say?"

"Well, I sat down at their table in the library and Lily said she thought I was supposed to be meeting you," Marlene explains with a grin. "I asked her what she was talking about and she said 'I don't know, she said it was a secret'. But I could tell that she thought you had made the whole thing up. Which you obviously did. So I said, 'Oh, shit. Our _secret_ meeting! I forgot about that one.' Then I hurried away. They all looked at me like I was mental."

"Well," I say, "You are mental."

Oh, Merlin. I don't think that was the best thing to say. There is now a shoe flying through the air right for my head.

**

* * *

-Brianna POV-**

Dear Old Hogsmeade. How I've missed you! I have a strange feeling that I was recently saying these same words about Hogwarts. Which is a little weird. I mean, why would I say that I missed Hogwarts? I personally wish I was still on summer vacation. Though if I were on vacation then I wouldn't be going on this lovely trip to Hogsmeade.

I'm walking towards Hogsmeade with James, Lily, Sirius, and Stella. The rest of our friends have dates. Even Peter has one. He's going with some Hufflepuff girl. Alice is of course going with Frank. I don't remember who Marlene is going with. Then there's Remus. Who's going with Caroline. Who's is the most horrible girl I know. I'm not joking. I know everyone says that I can be overdramatic, but I swear I'm not. Sirius agreed with me about her. Anyway, I'm not going to let thoughts of that girl ruin my wonderful trip to Hogsmeade.

"Hey, Sweets, why don't you try to keep up?" Sirius calls. I realize that I've fallen behind. I cringe a little when he calls me sweets, but unfortunately I've actually started to get used to it. Plus, I know that I can't just go around breaking people's noses, even if I do threaten him with it. He seems to think I will just break his nose whenever he makes me angry. Which is how I prefer it.

I hurry to catch up to my friends. "So, where should we take Stella first on her very first visit to Hogsmeade?"

"Scrivenshaft's," Lily replies promptly.

"Zonko's," James says excitedly.

"Three Broomsticks," Sirius says simultaneously with the other two.

"Honeydukes," I say. We all look at each other. We've each said our favorite place. I sigh, deciding to take the high road and compromise. "Okay, why don't we go to Three Broomsticks." Which I just happen to like almost as much as Honeydukes.

"No," Lily says. "It's so much better to go to Three Broomsticks later in the day. It's a great place to warm up after being in the cold."

"She has a point," Sirius agrees. "Why don't we go to Scrivenshaft's first, to get it over with." Lily frowns, but doesn't say anything. I have a feeling Stella will enjoy the quill shop as much as Lily does. I also have a feeling that she won't much enjoy Zonko's.

After what seems like hours – but probably isn't – we reach Honeydukes. Lily is satisfied from her trip to Scrivenshaft's. James and Sirius clutch bags stuff full of products from Zonko's. I eagerly push the door to Honeydukes and take a deep breath. I am home. Honeydukes is probably the greatest place on the whole entire earth. I'm not even exaggerating. They have every type of candy you could ever want or imagine. I hurry over to one wall that is covered from the floor to the ceiling with different types of candy. I instantly grab a handful of chocoballs and another of sugar quills.

"Sweets," Sirius appears beside me. I'm not sure if he's talking to me or about the candy. "I dare you to get an Acid Pop and eat it later."

"No way!"

"What, you're scared?" Sirius challenges. Damn him. He knows I can't back down from a challenge.

"I'll do that if you get a blood-flavored lollipop and a Cockroach Cluster," I say with a grin. I personally think that's a fair trade. I mean, I've heard that an Acid Pop can burn a whole through your tongue.

"They say that there are real cockroaches in those," a voice says from beside us. We look up to see Remus smiling at us. I want to be mad at him for going to Hogsmeade with the horrible Caroline Mayfair, but how can I be mad when he smiles at us like that?

"Yeah," Sirius nods. "That's a completely unfair trade. A blood-flavored lollipop _and_ a Cockroach Cluster?"

"I think it's completely fair and it is the only way I will get an Acid Pop," I fold my arms.

"Why don't _you_ get an Acid Pop?" Stella asks from behind us. Sirius frowns. "If _you_ get an Acid Pop then I'll get a Cockroach Cluster. You seem to think it's such a fair trade."

While they work out the details, I turn to Remus. He appears to have already purchased his candy and is holding a bag that looks very full.

"What do you have in there?" I ask, trying to peer into the bag. He pulls it away.

"Don't even think about it," he says, mock-sternly. Remus and I have a tradition that began in our first visit third year. See, we both happened to buy each other chocolate. Because we both share a love of chocolate. When we got back to the common room we each had a bar of chocolate for the other. Which was a complete coincidence. So, ever since, we always buy each other chocolate. This is why he won't let me look in his bag.

"Where are you headed, Moony?" Sirius asks. Remus frowns.

"Caroline wants to go to Gladrags," he says. Sirius shudders. Everyone says I over-exaggerate, but what about Sirius? "Then we're going to Three Broomsticks."

"Really? Great! That's where we're headed next," Sirius says enthusiastically. "You two should join us."

Remus looks relieved at this. Then he looks around. "I should probably go."

We say goodbye and Remus disappears into the crowd.

I'm looking after him when Sirius nudges me quite hard in the side. "Come on, Sweets, finish your shopping. I'm absolutely starving!"

Merlin do I hate that nickname.

* * *

A/N: A big thanks to my three reviewers!!!

I've edited all of these chapters, but if anyone notices some mistakes that I've missed, please feel free to let me know.

Please review!!


	8. Monster Mash

**Chapter 8: Monster Mash**

**-Stella POV-**

Hogsmeade is wonderful! It's so quaint and pretty, and there are so many wonderful stores. I don't see how we're going to be able to go to every store, though. Which is fine, because I'll have plenty of more opportunities. Right now we're walking to the Three Broomsticks. All along the street buildings are decorated for Halloween. I'm looking forward to the feast tonight. Everyone I've talked to has raved about the Halloween feast. Particularly Bria. It's one of her favorite nights, she says, because there is so much food. Sirius, who also loves food, is quite excited about it as well. I have to say that the excitement is infectious.

We enter The Three Broomsticks. It is full of students, teachers, and townspeople. James leads the way to a large table near the back. We all sit down and he and Sirius go to order drinks for us. I really like it here. It's cozy and warm. There is a friendly feel to the atmosphere.

Bria smiles widely. "I'm so glad to be here. I am absolutely starving. Do you think they'll remember to get food also?"

"It's James and Sirius," Lily points out, "I'm sure they'll remember."

I laugh. I'm surprised at how quickly I've gotten used to my new group of friends. My mom, who was muggle born, always says: "It's like riding a bike, you never forget." I guess I never really changed as much as I thought I did. Though I am still a lot different than Bria and James. I'm just happy because I feel that I've reached a comfortable middle ground.

James and Sirius return with their hands full of drinks and food. "A butterbeer for the missus," Sirius says, setting a mug down in front of me.

I smile. "Thank you."

"Mmmmm," Bria's eyes are wide as James sets food in front of her. "I feel like we haven't eaten in ages!"

"We haven't," Sirius says, sitting down to eat his own food.

"Oh, look, it's Abbey," James says. We look to see Abbey and Mary entering the Three Broomsticks. James raises his arm to wave them over.

"Don't," Sirius says in a low voice. James frowns at him then proceeds to get their attention. Abbey spots us and the two head in our direction. "You know I like to spend as little time in Hewitt's company as possible," Sirius complains.

"Hello all," Abbey grins, taking an empty seat. Mary takes the other with a more subdued hello.

"So, what do you think of that about that Magpie/Arrows game the other day?" James asks Abbey with a smirk. Lily and Mary groan simultaneously.

"Please, no quidditch for just one day!" Mary pleads.

"Honestly," Sirius says, "who cares about either of those teams?"

"Excuse me? The Magpies are brilliant. Right, Bria?" James says confidently. Bria doesn't answer. "Bria?"

She looks up from her food. "What? Did you say something?"

I laugh at her. Lily shakes her head. Bria looks at Mary. "This is what it's like being friends with this lot. They all laugh at me."

"Well, Sweets, you're fun to laugh at," Sirius says.

"That's why Mary's my favorite," Bria tells him. "She doesn't laugh at me OR call me annoying names."

"What? 'Sweets' is a term of endearment," Sirius explains. "Also, you love sweets, so it fits perfectly."

"How do you know the word 'endearment'?" she asks.

"Because I'm smart," Sirius answers. Her eyes narrow and James snorts. Though, to be fair, Sirius is actually rather smart. "Okay, Remus told me what it meant the other day."

"What did I tell you?" Remus is standing by our table. Caroline is standing next to him.

"You keep sneaking up on us," Sirius frowns, "it's not endearing." I can't help but laugh at this.

Bria rolls her eyes. "So now you're going to use that one word because it's the only big word you know."

"No it's not," Sirius says. "I know a lot of big words."

Lily ignores the two of them. "Do you want to join us?" she asks Remus and Caroline.

"Sounds great," Remus answers. The two of them take seats. "You all know Caroline, right?"

"Of course I know Caroline," Abbey says, "I do share a dorm room with her."

I smile at Caroline. "How are you?"

"I'm good," she smiles. I know that Bria and Sirius don't like her, but she seems nice enough.

In fact, Bria has become notably more sober since Caroline and Remus arrived.

"Brianna, are you going to consume the remnants of your provisions?" Sirius asks suddenly. We all look at him in surprise. He grins triumphantly at Bria, who has raised an eyebrow.

She looks at Remus. "You need to stop teaching him big words."

"I beg your pardon?" Sirius exclaims indignantly. "I was knowledgeable concerning those utterances devoid of any assistance from Remus."

"That didn't make sense," Bria says.

"It most undeniably did," Sirius says, looking particularly smug.

"Well, Sirius, I think you've made your point," I say with a smile. Those two could go on for hours if no one intervenes. Sirius looks triumphant.

"So," James speaks up. "How about the Wasps game against the Arrows last week?"

Nice move, James. Sirius looks ready to murder him on the spot.

**

* * *

-Lily POV-**

"MUAHAHA," I hear James doing an evil laugh for Bria as I approach the Gryffindor table for the Halloween feast. Have I mentioned how strange those Potter twins are? I love Bria to death, but it's true.

"You're ridiculous," Bria says to James. I take a seat at the table. "There is nothing different about Halloween than any other day. There are no 'evil spirits'."

"Didn't you listen to anything Dumbledore said this morning?" James asks in mock-disdain. " 'The veil between our world and the spirit world is at it's thinnest on this one day of the year.'" He sounds scarily like Dumbledore when he recites his speech from this morning.

"I don't care what Dumbledore said. I don't buy it."

"Anything can happen on Halloween," James says in an eerie voice. "You better watch out for the evil spirits. They can be quite mischievous on Halloween. Don't come crying to me when those spirits prove me right."

Bria rolls her eyes and chooses not to respond.

"You had really better watch out, Sweets," Sirius says. "I have a feeling that the spirits have something special planned for you."

Bria's eyes narrow. "You two better not pull anything or you will seriously regret it."

"Bri, I'm sure they're just messing with you," I assure her. Then I give them a stern look. "Right?"  
"Yes, Lily," they mutter in unison.

"I don't know how you do it, Lil. It's impressive," Marlene grins.

I look at my friend. "So, Marlene, how was your date?"

"Fine," she answers in a bored tone. I'm assuming that she won't be going out with Derek again. "What I'm really interested in is finding out how Alice's date with Frank went. Where is Alice?"

"Sitting at the other end of the table with Frank and the twins," I answer. Marlene has a huge smile.

"I guess it went well, then," she says, waving at Alice who smiles and waves back.

"So, Remus, how was your date?" Sirius gushes in a girly tone. He bats his eyelashes a few times. Remus rolls his eyes at his friend and continues to eat.

"Really, Moony, how did it go?" James prods.

"Er, well…we're dating now," he says hesitantly, looking intently at the table.

James smiles widely. "Way to go, Remus!"

"Yeah. That's great," Peter echoes.

I glance at Bria and notice that she does not look happy about this. Funnily enough, neither does Sirius. In fact, I almost think that Sirius might look more disappointed than Bria. To be honest, I'm not too happy about it either. Not because I dislike Caroline. She seems nice. I just don't think that Remus is really that into her. I have a feeling that he is just settling.

"Oh, you two are dating?" Sirius says glumly. "That's…great."

Stella gives Sirius a disapproving look, then turns to Remus. "It really is," she says, much more sincerely.

"Did you two get any good supplies at Zonko's?" Remus asks James and Sirius. He seems eager to change the subject. The two emphatically launch into a discussion of what they got today.

"Bria would not try an Acid Pop. She was too scared," Sirius grins. We all glance at Bria, expecting an angry retort. However, I notice that her face has gone completely blank. I mean, not just like she isn't paying attention. I've never seen such a blank expression like that on her before.

"Bria?" James prompts. I nudge her. Suddenly she snaps straight, alert. She looks around, very confused.

"What? What's going on?" she asks. I frown.

Sirius' grin falters. "I was just talking about how you wouldn't get an Acid Pop."

"Oh, right. An Acid Pop," she says vaguely. Which is strange. Normally she would jump to defend herself. Especially against Sirius. We're silent for a moment, everyone realizing that something odd is going on with Bria. She just looks down at her food and doesn't touch any more. Which is really strange because she's barely eaten anything and I know she said she was hungry before dinner. I've never seen her not eat.

Peter, oblivious to it all, continues the conversation. Soon everyone has been distracted and seems to forget Bria's odd behavior. Remus, who is very intuitive, doesn't seem to forget quite so easily. I notice him glance at her, concerned and curious. After dinner I will find out what is going on.

"So, Stella, when are you going to eat those Cockroach Clusters you bought?" Sirius asks smugly.

"Just as soon as you eat that Acid Pop," she replies evenly.

Sirius slumps. "Bloody hell! I was hoping you'd forget."

**

* * *

-Brianna POV-**

Okay. Don't panic. It was probably nothing. I _know_ it was nothing. Maybe just…I don't know. But there is absolutely no reason to freak out. Everything is going to be okay. I probably still have some damage from hitting my head in the quidditch game last week. I mean, a _bludger_ hit me in the _head. _ That has to leave some side effects. Right?

I probably just imagined the whole thing. It must have been some sort of hallucination. Or some type of dream. Maybe I fell asleep at the table, with my eyes open, and had a very lucid dream.

Here's what happened. I was sitting at dinner. The Halloween Feast. I had just started in on my delicious plate full of a variety of wonderful food, listening to James prattle on about what he had gotten today, when everything sort of disappeared. It was as though I left the table and was transported somewhere else. I was standing outside in the pouring rain. Except, I wasn't getting wet. It was like I was there, but I wasn't. Which was really strange. But not as strange at what I was looking at.

In front of me were two people. One man was standing in a doorway. A woman was standing outside of the door in the rain. They were talking.

"I can't believe you would do something like that!" the woman said.

"I'm sorry. I just thought you should find out on your own," said the man.

"This is my life! You have no right to make those decisions for me," she answered.

He ran a tired hand through his hair. "I just wanted you to understand why – "

"All this time I've been trying to figure things out, and all along you've know _this?_" she interrupted. "I don't know if I can forgive you for this."

"Please, just let me explain," he pleaded.

That was it. After that, everything faded away, and I was suddenly sitting in the Great Hall again. All of my friends were looking at me. I looked around. For a second I couldn't remember where I was or what I was doing.

"What? What's going on?" I asked. My friends just stared at me.

"I was just talking about how you wouldn't get an Acid Pop," Sirius said, looking at me as if I were mental. Which I'm a little worried that I might be.

I wasn't quite sure what he was talking about, but I went along with it. I wanted to get my friends to quit staring at me. "Oh, right. An Acid Pop."

They were all silent until finally Peter broke the silence. I have never been more grateful than I was for Peter in that moment. Thank Merlin for Peter and his obliviousness.

Here's the part that really freaked me out. Those two people? The ones I saw? I recognized them. I mean, they looked a lot different. They looked to be about twenty years older than they are now. But they were unmistakable.

They were Remus and I.


	9. Strange Things

**A/N: Sorry I haven't updated in a while. I've been really busy. I can't guarantee how often I'll be able to update, but I'll try to update as quickly as possible.**

**

* * *

Chapter 9: Strange Things  
**

**-Brianna POV-**

I walk hesitantly up the ladder into the Divination classroom. I haven't had to come here at all this year. I was hoping to never come up here again. Stella convinced me that I should. See, I decided to confide in Stella. I figured she was the best choice. I'm starting to regret my decision, however. After insisting that there's a good chance I have the Sight, she convinced me that the best option was to go see Professor Telchines. Our Divination professor. I think this might be because she doesn't realize that Professor Telchines is an old bat and a complete hoax.

But, here I am. I look around the empty room. I think that maybe I should just leave. She'll never know.

"Ahhh, Miss Potter, I knew you'd be coming to see me," a mystical voice says. Too late. I guess I have to go through with this after all. I turn to see Telchines smiling broadly at me, a heavy scent wafting in behind her.

"Hello Professor," I mutter.

"Please, dear, sit down," she gestures to an overstuffed chair. I sit down, instantly sinking into it. "Now, what can I help you with?"

I thought she was supposed to be a Seer. Well, that's not exactly true, because I always knew she is a load of crock. But still.

"The thing is," I say, hesitating, "I think I might have _Seen_ something."

She smiles and claps her hands together. "Oh, this is certainly wonderful. I always knew you had potential." She hurries over to a corner to get something. She comes back holding a crystal ball. I have to struggle not to roll my eyes.

"Let's just see, shall we?" she places the ball in front of me. "What do you see?"

I look intently into the ball. I really do try to see something. For the first time in my life I actually try to see something. All I see is a cloudy mass of white. "Er, it's going to be really cloudy this week?"

She shakes her head, looking slightly disappointed. She recovers quickly. "No matter. Maybe you'll be more successful with some tea leaves."

It takes her slightly longer to brew a cup of tea. She drains it so only the dregs are left. She sets it down in front of me. She watches me eagerly and expectantly. I look into the cup. I don't see anything. In fact, the only thing I _see_ are a bunch of soaking tea leaves.

I shake my head. "Nothing."

She visibly deflates. Then she smiles. "Why don't you try a palm reading?"

She holds out her hand. I take it and look at it intently. I'm not sure if something is supposed to just come to me. Nothing does. I think back to when we learned about palm reading in class.

"Well, this line here means a long life, doesn't it?" She looks distinctly disappointed in me as she draws back her hand.

"I'm sorry to say my dear, but I am sure that you do not have the Sight," she says tartly. She gets up, puts her things away, and disappears into her office without another word. Which is a little rude, if you ask me.

I'm relieved that _that_ is all over. I hurry out of the room, worried that she might suddenly come back with another idea to test my 'Sight'. I walk down the stairs of the tower. When I realize that Lily is probably waiting for me in the common room with a pile of work, I slow down. There's no reason why I can't take a long, leisurely walk back to the common room.

When I reach the bottom of the stairs, Dumbledore is walking by.

"Hello, Miss Potter," he greets me with a smile.

"Hello, Professor," I say.

"What brings you to this part of the castle on a Sunday afternoon?" he asks me.

"I just came to see Professor Telchines," I answer.

Dumbledore looks surprised. "Really?"

"Yeah. The thing is, I thought I might have Seen something," I explain. For some reason I feel very comfortable telling Dumbledore this.

"You saw something that concerned Professor Telchines?" Dumbledore asks in interest.

"No. I mean, I Saw something, with a capital-S," I avoid eye contact as I say this.

"Hmm, that's quite interesting. Miss Potter, would you like to join me for tea in my office?" Dumbledore asks. I look up, startled.

Five minutes later I find myself sitting across from Dumbledore, holding a cup of tea. He has placed a small plate of cookies on the desk. They are very good.

"So, Miss Potter, I'm very interested to hear what you saw," Dumbledore says.

I take a deep breath and explain to him everything that happened. I'm expecting him to have some other explanation, other than that I actually Saw something. Dumbledore's a practical man, after all. I would be very relieved for a different explanation.

"Well, Miss Potter, I don't know much about the topic of Divination," Dumbledore says one I've finished telling him what happened. "However, I would say that you have indeed Seen a moment in the future."

I look at him in surprise. "Are you sure? I mean, do you actually believe in that sort of thing?"

"Oh, yes. Most definitely," he says. "While it is very rare, there are certainly people who have this gift. I'm not sure that it's something that can be taught or learned. I don't know that one can See things in crystal balls and tea leaves. However, I would say that you certainly have the gift."

This wasn't the answer I was hoping for.

"What I find most interesting about what you saw is the fact that it told you nothing concrete about the future," Dumbledore says, taking a sip of tea. I think about what I saw.

"You're right," I say, "all I really know is that at some point in the future I get mad at Remus for not telling me something."

"It could be about anything," Dumbledore muses.

"I'm not sure that a true Seer has control over what they see," Dumbledore continues after a short pause. "It would be interesting to see if you are able to control your gift with practice or if this is something you will not have any control over."

"But, Professor," I say, confused. "If I really do have the Sight, then how come this is the first time that I have ever Seen anything?"

"I cannot answer that, Miss Potter," Dumbledore answers. "These types of things often work in mysterious ways. It is possible that you might never See anything again."

I hope that's the case. I'd be happy without Seeing anything again.

"Well, Professor, thanks for the tea," I say, setting my empty cup on his desk in front of me.

"Anytime," he smiles. "My door is always open. Figuratively, not literally. I do not actually keep my door open. For security purposes."

I smile as I get up. He's an odd man, but he's very interesting and I'd say he's a genius. Loads smarter than even Lily.

I reach the door, then look up as another thought occurs to me. "Professor? What makes you think that I didn't make the whole thing up? How come you believed me?"

"Oh, I am quite sure you are telling me the truth," he answers with a smile. "Let me ask you something. Do you want to have the Sight?"

"No," I answer promptly. I know a lot of people wish they did, but it sounds perfectly dreadful to me.

"Well, then, I see no reason why you would make such a thing up," he answers. "I've very much enjoyed our discussion."

"Bye, Professor," I say. I open the door and step onto the staircase, which spirals downward.

So I, Brianna Potter, have the Sight. I don't think things could get much worse.

Of course, whenever I say that, things always get worse.

**

* * *

-Stella POV-**

I sit on a couch trying to do work. It's difficult to concentrate. I keep checking the portrait hole, eager for Bria to return. I'm sure she must have the Sight. I can't wait to find out what Professor Telchines has to say about it. Bria insists that the professor is completely incompetent and that she has no actual Divination abilities. However, I find it very difficult to believe that Dumbledore would hire an incompetent teacher.

Finally she enters the room. Looking around, she spots me and hurries over.

"So?" I look at her expectantly as she sits down. "What did she say?"

"I told you she is utterly incompetent," Bria says. "She had me reading tea leaves and crystal balls. She was disappointed when I saw nothing."

"Oh," I say, deflated.

"But I did talk to Dumbledore," she says. "We had tea."

"You had tea with Dumbledore?" I ask, surprised. No wonder she took so long.

"Yep. He had some really great tea and some delicious cookies," she tells me earnestly. "I wonder where he gets it from. I could do with a large stash of those cookies."

"What did he say?" I ask, impatiently.

"Oh, right," she says, as though she forgot what she'd just gone to do. "He reckons that I have the Sight."

"Wow," I say, stunned. I had already figured she had the Sight. But to actually have it confirmed by Dumbledore is something quite different. It's not as if I've ever met anyone with the Sight. "What are you going to do?"

"Nothing," she says. "There's not much I can do. Dumbledore doesn't know if I'll be able to control it or if I'll ever have another vision again."

"Are you going to tell anyone?" I ask.

"No. Not yet, anyway. For now I'd like to keep this between us. I don't know if I want anyone knowing I have the Sight."

"You have the Sight?!" A voice exclaims behind us. We both jump and turn. James has sprung up from behind the couch.

"Shh!" Bria shushes him. She looks around urgently to make sure that nobody heard. James hurries around to sit on the couch beside us. "What were you doing there?"

"Er – " he diverts his eyes. Bria rolls hers.

"Whatever. I don't really care," she says. She looks at him intently. "You can't tell anyone about this. This stays between us."

"Tell anyone about what?" he cries. "I don't know anything except that Dumbledore thinks you have the Sight."

"I'll tell you if you promise not to tell anyone?" she says. He hesitates, then nods.

"Fine," he says, "I won't say a word. Though I don't know why you would tell Stella and not your own twin brother."

Bria tells him the whole story of what she saw. By the time she finishes, he is speechless. Of course, it is James, so his speechlessness does not last long.

"What special ability do you think I have?" he asks eagerly. We both look at him in confusion. "We're twins. Twins have that weird magical bond where they both have special abilities."

"James, I'm pretty sure that's just in books," I tell him. "I don't think that is actually true."

"I don't know how that can be," James says. "I don't read any books."

I laugh. It's true, though. James never reads if he can help it.

"Can you see my future?" he asks Bria eagerly. "Am I going to marry Lily? How many kids are we going to have?"

Bria rolls her eyes. "I can't just See anything. I don't know anything about it. I just had a random vision." James looks deflated at this.

"James, I thought you already knew you are going to marry Lily," I say with a grin, "you tell us so almost every day."

"Well, it would be nice for some confirmation," he says.

"Stella!" I turn around to see Sirius gesturing me over to him.

"I'll talk to you later," I say to the Potter twins. I go over to Sirius and sit down at the table next to him.

"I've been thinking about the next step in our plan," Sirius says. I look at him confused.

"What plan?"

Sirius looks at me in exasperation. "The Date Remus Lupin plan. Now, I know him dating Caroline is not very convenient, but it is just a minor setback. I doubt they'll be together long. Though I was thinking that maybe we could give him a push in the right direction by breaking them up."

Great. Now Sirius wants to try to break up Remus and his girlfriends because he thinks that I have a crush on Remus, which I don't.

"No, Sirius, I really don't want you to do that," I say quickly.

"What harm could it do? It's not like they're going to last very long anyway," he reasons with me.

I sigh. "Look, I don't really have a crush on Remus," I admit. Sirius grins at me.

"I know what you're doing. You just saying that so I won't break them up," Sirius accuses. "It doesn't really matter. I want an excuse to break them up anyway."

I give him a penetrating look. "Don't Sirius. You could ruin your friendship with him."

He looks at me silently for a few minutes before shrugging. "Fine. We'll just wait until they break up to continue with our plan," he grins. I keep myself from rolling my eyes. I've had a lot of practice lately what with interactions with Bria and James, and Sirius for that matter.

"I have to do homework," I say, getting up. "I'll talk to you later.

Before I walk away I think that I see a strange look in his eyes. It almost looks like sadness. But that can't be right. I glance back and Sirius gives me a friendly grin. I must have imagined it.

**

* * *

-No POV-**

Abbey sat up straight as Mary entered the room. Abbey grinned at her as she silently made her way to her bed. She glanced at Abbey and raised an eyebrow. Abbey continued to grin while watching her friend. Mary sat and sighed.

"What do you want, Abbey?" she finally said. Abbey bounced happily on her bed.

"Someone mentioned you today," she said in a singsong voice.

"Okay," Mary said, uninterested.

"By 'someone' I mean a boy," Abbey elaborated. Mary didn't look up, but Abbey was sure she saw her cheeks redden a little. "A boy named Gideon Prewett."

"Really?" Mary asked skeptically. "About what?"

"Well, Fabian said that me and 'my friend' should go to the next Hogsmeade visit with them and Gideon said 'her name's Mary," Abbey said excitedly. Mary frowned.

"So?"

"So, a boy who does that is either a friend, which he's not, or is interested in you, which I think that he is," Abbey explained. Mary didn't look convinced.

"I doubt it," she said. "He's just a nice person."

"So you think he's nice?"  
"Yeah, Abbey, there are a lot of people who I think are nice."

"Well, I still think he likes you," Abbey muttered.

"Hello," Caroline entered the room smiling.

"You look happy," Abbey remarked.

"I am."

"I hear that you are going out with Remus Lupin," Abbey said, her grin returning. "That's great! Remus is really nice."

"I know," Caroline gushed, sitting on her bed. "Plus, he is _so_ cute. There are a bunch of girls who are really jealous of me. I've never really had any other girls jealous of me before, I always wondered what it would feel like."

Abbey and Mary exchanged glances. "You do like him for more than his looks and popularity though, right?" Abbey asked.

"Oh – er – of course," Caroline answered quickly. Mary, whose back was towards Caroline, rolled her eyes. Abbey had to hide her smile.

"Speaking of jealous," Caroline said, "I think that Brianna Potter is jealous of us."

Abbey frowned. "Jealous of you and Remus?"

"Yes," Caroline said, "it's clear that she has a huge crush on Remus."

"I don't think so," Abbey said, "They're just really good friends."

Caroline looked at her skeptically. "Did you see her at The Three Broomsticks? She was so clearly fawning over him.

"No she wasn't," Mary frowned.

"Were we at the same table?" Abbey asked. "Because if I remember correctly she spent most of the time arguing with Sirius."

"Well, maybe you didn't notice it," Caroline shrugged, "but I did."

This type of attitude was typical for Caroline, and her two roommates were used to it. It bothered Abbey, however, because Remus was a friend and she didn't want to see him get hurt.

The girls were saved from having to respond by a knock on the door.

"Come in!" Mary called.

Abbey had to grin when the door opened to reveal Bria. Caroline's expression darkened.

"Abbey, James sent me to – " Bria broke off as Caroline shoved past her, leaving the room. Bria frowned at her retreating back.

"James what?" Abbey asked. Bria turned back, shaking her head slightly.

"James wants a team meeting. He says he needs to go over strategy," Bria said.

"Ooh, yes, I love strategy meetings!" Abbey exclaimed, hopping off her bed. Bria rolled her eyes at Mary as Abbey hurried out of the room.

"What's that?" Bria asked, pointing to a scarf that Mary was in the process of knitting.

"I'm making a scarf," Mary answered.

"Do you think you could teach me to knit sometime?" Bria asked, eyeing the scarf with interest.

"Yeah, sure," Mary said with a smile. "It's pretty easy."

"Great!" Bria grinned. Then she glanced at the door. "I should probably go. James might kill me otherwise."

At that moment James' voice echoed up the girl's staircase.

"BRIANNA!"

* * *

A/N: Please review!!!


	10. Dirty Little Secret

**Chapter 10: Dirty Little Secret**

**

* * *

-Stella POV-**

When Brianna comes up to me with her innocent, yet pleading, expression, I should know right away that something is up. I should know that she is up to no good. And I should realize that the stupidest thing I could do is to agree to do something without knowing what it actually is that I'll be doing. So, when Brianna asks me if I will do her a favor, I foolishly say yes.

"Brilliant!" She grins. This is when I first begin to realize that I may have made a mistake. I notice her glance across the room to where the Marauders are sitting. This is my second clue. Then she says enthusiastically, "Let's go upstairs."

I reluctantly follow her up to our dorm room. With each step I feel more dread as it sinks in what I've just done. Of course, her request could be perfectly harmless. However, blindly agreeing to do something for Bria is one of the most basic mistakes a person can make.

We enter the room and she shuts the door firmly behind us, after making sure the room is empty. She checks the bathroom, too, just to be absolutely sure. Now I know I've made a mistake. If Bria is concerned about secrecy then there is no way that she can be up to anything remotely good. This is confirmed by Bria when she turns to me and says: "We are going to sneak into the 6th year boys dorm room."

I groan. "I don't think so."

She instantly turns on her pleading expression. "Please! I need to find something and I could really use your help. They'll never know we were there."

I've found that I'm powerless when Bria uses her convincing expression. I sigh, my shoulders slumping. "Fine. I guess I'll help you."

I'm not sure what has come over me. I have no idea why I've actually agreed to do this.

"How are we going to get in there without them seeing us? They are all sitting in the common room."

Bria grins. "We aren't going through the common room." She grabs her broom. "We're going through the windows"

"What?!" I exclaim. Have I mentioned that I'm terrified of flying? I may love watching quidditch, but I refuse to get on a broom. I'm pretty sure that Bria knows this, too.

"Don't worry about it," she says, her expression softening. "It will be fine. It's just a quick flight. If you close your eyes you won't even know you're flying."

She walks over to the window, sticks her broom out her window, and climbs on. She looks at me expectantly. I hesitate, then walk slowly to the window myself.

"It's easy. Just climb on," she says. "Here, give me your hand."

I take her hand. I breath deeply and quickly get on the broom. My heart seems to plunge into my stomach as I briefly look down towards the ground, which seems to be miles below us. I throw my arms around her and squeeze my eyes tight as we start to fly. In what feels like forever, but is really no time at all, Bria announces, "We're here!"

I open my eyes and see a closed window in front of us. Bria takes out her wand and waves it, muttering a spell, and the window flies open.

"I think we'll fit through it," Bria says, "That way you won't have to climb through." As she flies towards the window I close my eyes again. I can feel the difference as we enter the room. Then we are tumbling to the floor.

"Oops," she says. My eyes open and I find myself lying on the floor of the 6th year Gryffindor boys' room. I quickly get up. I have never actually been here. It is surprisingly clean. I have a feeling that is mostly due to Remus' influence. Especially since three of the beds have a variety of different things sticking out from under them, covering them, and tightly surrounding them. The fourth is neatly made and spotless. I turn to Bria who is standing beside me.

"What are we looking for?" I ask, resigned.

"I'm not sure _exactly_ what it is," she says, avoiding my eyes. "But I do know that it's some sort of parchment. I saw them looking at it the other day. I think if you tap it with your wand something shows up on it."

Great! I'm looking for a piece of parchment. This is going to be difficult, especially considering the five pieces of parchment I already see sticking out from under a bed that I assume to be James', considering the quilt embroidered with quaffles. Bria instantly begins searching and I reluctantly do the same. We are silently searching for about five minutes.

"Ooh, I think I found it!" Bria exclaims. I straighten and look over at her. She is vigorously tapping a piece of parchment with her wand and frowning. "I guess not."

We continue our search. We haven't been looking for more than two minutes when we suddenly hear loud voices at the door. We straighten and look at each other in alarm.

Then the door handle begins to turn.

**

* * *

-Brianna POV-**

I am lying underneath James' bed. It is a mess. Their room is actually clean, I think this is the one thing that Remus insists upon. However, under James' bed it is not remotely clean. It seems as though there must be three years of junk under here. However, I know this is not possible, as this room was empty all summer. Which means this three years worth of junk is actually the result of about two months. I just thank Merlin that I ended up under James' bed instead of Sirius' or Peter's. Stella wasn't so lucky. She is currently squashed under Sirius' bed. I'm just worried because she has dust-related allergies and I'm sure that a lot of dust must have accumulated under his bed. If she sneezes she'll give us away.

The four boys enter the room. "Prongs, I'm sorry, but it's never going to happen."

"What are you on about? She doesn't hate me anymore!"

"Sure, but that doesn't mean she's ever going to date you. There are so many girls who would love to date you. I think you should forget about Lily."

"I don't know, Padfoot, he might have more of a chance than you think."

"Come on, Moony. I have to say that I think I have a bit more experience in this sort of thing."

"Actually, I think that Remus is quite intuitive about things like that."

"You're just saying that because he agrees with you."

"You should ask out Mona Williams. She's really pretty."

"Honestly, Wormtail? Williams is not what I'd call a looker."

"Who's broom is this? One of you left your broom on my bed."

Bloody hell! I left my broom on Remus' bed. After all that we went through, we're going to get caught because I carelessly left my broom lying around. We probably would have gotten away with it, too. We may have had to stay under these beds all night, but we would have gotten away with it. I'm actually not sure, though, if that option is better. Being stuck under James' bed all night would be torture.

"Oh, that's mine," I hear James say. "Sorry. I thought I put that away."

Maybe we won't get caught after all. Luckily James and I have the same brooms. I'm still surprised that he isn't able to tell the difference. Surprised but immensely relieved.

There is a short silence.

"Speaking of girls," Sirius begins, "I was thinking of asking out Brianna. What do you guys think? Of course, I would never ask her out without your consent."

What in Godric's name?

"I give you my full blessing," James says.

"Really?" Remus says. "Because I was thinking about asking her out."

For some strange reason my heart speeds up slightly by this comment. I have no idea why. What is wrong with me?

"Aw, come on Moony! You have a girlfriend!" Sirius complains. "Besides, I called her first."

Excuse me? No boy is going to 'call me'. Besides, I would never go out with Sirius in a million years. He should know that.

"I think you should leave this decision up to me," James says. What? James is the last person who is going to make that decision. What is wrong with these boys? "Personally, I think I'd have to go with Peter."

Is he mental? Oh, shit. I think I just said "what?" out loud. I meant to only think that in my head. We were so close, too.

Suddenly James' face is grinning under the bed at me. "Well, hello Brianna. What a surprise." Oh, bloody hell. They just pulled that thing to get me to reveal myself. They knew I was in here. Grumbling, I crawl out from under the bed. Sirius starts laughing.

I stand up, covered in dust. "Ever heard of cleaning, James? It's disgusting under there."

"I'm sorry," James says sarcastically. "I don't usually prepare my bed so that people can hide out under it." He holds out my broom, "Did you lose something?"

Narrowing my eyes, I grab my broom.

"I can't believe you actually thought I'd want to ask you out," Sirius chuckles. Sometimes I hate him. Like right now.

I glare at him. "You'd be lucky to date me." Sirius looks skeptical but amused. Then I remember about Stella. Stella is still hidden and they have no idea she's here. I have to get out of here as soon as possible before they figure it out. I may have not been able to get away with this, but Stella still has a chance.

"Well, this has been lovely," I smile, "but I really must be going."

"Wait a minute!" James protests. I have to get out of here. "You still have to tell us what you were doing in here."

"Nope, I don't. See you later," I head to the door.

"I don't think so," Sirius shakes his head. "You have some answering to do before you leave here."

"I will be available in the common room for any questions you may have," I say, using my sweetest voice. "You can voice your concerns to me there. Now, I'll be going."

This is actually good. If I can get them to come down to the common room, Stella will be able to get away.

"What are you hiding?"

I freeze. Slowly I turn to Remus, putting on my best (and least obvious) innocent expression.

"Nothing," I say. He is looking at me very intently, which makes it really difficult to look convincingly innocent. Damn Remus and his intuitiveness. "Listen, boys, I really need to go. I'm supposed to meet Lily right now and you know how she gets about people being late."

James nods. "It's true."

"You're hiding something and you're trying to get out of here as quickly as possible so we won't figure it out," Remus accuses. Why did James have to make friends with somebody so smart?

Looking suspicious, he leans down to look under his bed. Well, I tried. At least I can say that.

"Peter, look under your bed." Peter checks under his bed, which is of course empty. Well, empty other than all the junk that's there.

Suddenly there is a sneeze from under Sirius' bed. She couldn't make it just five minutes longer? Though, to be fair, she probably realized that there was no hope anyway. Sirius grins. He looks under his bed. When he straightens his grin is even wider.

"Well, well, well," he says. He is getting way to much amusement out of this. Stella's head appears from under Sirius' bed. It is covered with dust. I mean, literally covered. Her head is grey from all the dust. She struggles to climb out. Standing up, she gives me a particularly displeased look. Hey, I really did try! Though, I'm sure it's not my lack of getting out undetected as it is the fact that I dragged her into this in the first place.

"Stella?" James is very surprised. Actually, all of them except for Sirius are surprised. I, on the other hand, am a little scared. Stella is looking murderous and I really think that she is going to kill me.

"Sorry?" I say hopefully.

She glares at me. "Let's go," she mutters through gritted teeth. If I weren't so scared right now, I'd probably laugh at her. She is covered from head to foot in dust. Her hair is a mess. She has dark smudges on her face. How can these boys possibly be so messy?

I see Sirius looking impressed and he gives Stella two thumbs up behind James' back. Stella smiles slightly. I frown. What is up with them? The other three boys are silent as we leave the room. We silently walk down to the common room, across it, and begin up the stairs to our own room. When we are halfway up I tentatively break the silence.

"Stella, I'm sorry. I guess all of that was for absolutely nothing," I say glumly, "we didn't even get that parchment."

I am shocked when Stella grins widely at me. She holds up a piece of parchment. "I'm pretty sure that this is it."

My eyes widen in surprise. "Where did you get that?"

"I found it under Sirius' bed," she says. Her smile is huge. Which is surprising because about five minutes ago I was convinced she was going to murder me. "I wasn't really upset with you. It was just an act."

"Well, Stella, I am quite impressed," I say. "We pulled one over on them after all. All thanks to you."

We reach the door to our room and go inside. Lily looks up from the spot on her bed where she is sitting. She frowns at us.

"What in Merlin's name happened to you?"

**

* * *

-Stella POV-**

When we got back to our room last night Lily was there. We never got a moment alone to examine the parchment. It is currently hidden in the bottom of my trunk. I normally do not condone snooping or stealing, but I am actually quite intrigued. Maybe it's Sirius' negative influence. This morning he told me that he thought it was 'excellent' that I had decided to do some snooping. He also said that if he discovered anything of his missing I would seriously regret it. The tone he used was actually a little scary. Especially because he didn't make any joke about the pun on the word serious.

Right now we're sitting in a Transfiguration class. I've never been more anxious to get out of a class. Especially a Transfiguration one. I quite enjoy Transfiguration but I haven't listened to a word McGonagall has said. I'm not really sure if it's Sirius' influence or Bria's. Either way, I am very curious to find out what that parchment is.

A piece of paper just appeared on my desk. I open it.

_Can I copy your notes after class? –Sirius_

_ I thought you were supposed to be tutoring me in Transfiguration –Stella_

_ Haha. But really, can I copy your notes? –Sirius_

I roll my eyes. He knows that I do not approve of copying notes. Why should I do all that work so that someone else has to do none at all? Besides, I haven't taken any today anyway.

_I haven't been taking notes. –Stella_

_ Really? –Sirius_

_ I'm serious. –Stella_

Sirius gives me a thumbs up, quickly writes another note, and then turns to Remus who is currently listening to McGonagall's lecture. I look down at his last note.

_Well, actually, I'm Sirius. –Sirius_

I grin in spite of myself. As unoriginal and overused as that joke is, I can't help but be amused. I glance up and notice Bria giving us a weird look. When she sees me looking she quickly turns forward and begins to pretend to take notes. I know that she is pretending because she never actually takes any notes.

Finally the class is over. I begin to gather up my things quickly, eager to get up to the dorms.

"Stella, I was wondering if – " Lily begins, but is interrupted when Bria walks up and grabs me by the arm.

"Sorry, Lils, we have to go," she says before dragging me away. Lily is looking very suspicious as we hurry out of the room. I think she knows something is up. Especially after last night when we came in covered in dust and Bria told Lily that we had just been looking for a particularly old book in a deserted area of the library.

We walk as fast as possible without running. Bria knows that I don't like running in the halls. As soon as we are in our room Bria locks the door as I dig through my trunk for the parchment. I turn to her as she eagerly sits on my bed.

"Don't you think locking the door is a little suspicious?" I ask.

"It is, but it gives us a warning if someone is coming and time to hide the parchment," she says. She has a point.

I sit down next to her and unfold the parchment.

"What do we do?" she asks. I shrug.

Bria takes out her wand and taps the parchment. "Reveal yourself." At first nothing happens and we are disappointed. Then, suddenly, writing begins to appear across it. We look at each other in excitement and begin to read.

_Mssr. Moony is disappointed that a pretty young girl such as Brianna Potter does not seem to be able to stay out of other people's business. _

We frown at each other as more writing appears.

_Mssr. Wormtail thinks that Brianna Potter is too pretty to be involved in such shady business as stealing from the innocent. _

_ Mssr. Padfoot always knew Brianna Potter was more trouble than she was worth._

_ Mssr. Prongs wishes that Brianna Potter would learn to stay out of things that do not belong to her for once in her life._

We look up at each other. Bria's expression mirrors my own confusion. "What was that?" she asks.

"I don't know. Let me try," I say, taking out my wand. "Aparecium," I tap the parchment, trying a simple revealing charm.

_Mssr. Moony is surprised that a girl as smart as Stella Potter would think that such a simple spell would actually be effective in revealing our hidden secrets. _

_ Mssr. Wormtail does not know what the spell actually is and therefore cannot comment on its effectiveness._

_ Mssr. Padfoot approves of Stella Potter's initiative but thinks that she should keep her cute little nose out of things that do not involve her._

_ Mssr. Prongs is highly disappointed and thought that Stella Potter had more sense than this._

I frown. "This is really weird."

"I know. Especially because they seem to know who we are," Bria says, squinting at the parchment.

"Well, it must have some kind of charm that recognizes – " I begin. Bria interrupts me, which I have realized is a very common occurrence.

"It's them!" she cries, her eyes widening.

"It's who?" I ask.

"Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs," she says, "Those are the names that they use for each other."

"The names that who uses for each other?" I ask, still confused. Then I suddenly remember. "James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter."

"Yes!" Bria cries. "They must have created this thing."

"This is impressive work," I say, studying the map. "It is able to recognize the person using it and the responses seem to be very personalized."  
"What do you mean?" she asks.

"For example, 'Mssr. Padfoot always knew Brianna Potter was more trouble than she was worth' is something that Sirius would say to you," I say. I am very impressed by this. I knew they were smart, but they must have used some highly advanced magic to create this.

"You're right," she says, thinking. Then I notice her blush. "Do you really think that Remus thinks I'm pretty?"

I study her closely, trying to hide a grin. "Well, you are pretty, so probably." Then a thought occurs to me.

"Do I really have a cute nose?" I ask.

Bria's giving me a look that I can't quite decipher. "I never really thought about it. I suppose so."

I have a small smile, but I quickly give her a more serious look. "So, how are we going to figure this out?"  
"Maybe this is all it is," she says, "Maybe it doesn't do anything else."

"No, that doesn't make any sense at all. If that were the case, the boys wouldn't be hiding it and wouldn't be using it only for themselves. Plus, it mentioned something about a hidden secret."

"You're the smart one, you should know what to do," she points out.

"You're the one with the Sight," I say, "maybe if you concentrate really hard something will come to you."

She's now giving me a skeptical look. "You know that it doesn't work like that. I probably don't actually have the Sight anyway."

I sigh. "Well, I'll go to the library tomorrow. Maybe I can find something that might help us."

"Yeah, and I'll – er – " she begins.

I grin at her. "It's okay, you don't have to come to the library with me."

She breaths a sigh of relief. "Thank Merlin. Last time I went to the library I almost died of boredom."

* * *

A/N: Please review!!


	11. Somebody's Watching Me

**Chapter 11: Somebody's Watching Me**

**-Lily POV- **

"I hate Caroline!" I look up in surprise as Bria storms into our room, slamming the door behind her. I can't help but smirk a little at her. Her expression on seeing my smile is a little scary.

"I don't see why you find that so funny!" she glares at me. I straighten and wipe the smile off my face.

"I don't find it funny," I answer. "What did she do?"

Bria looks at me suspiciously for a few minutes, then sits down next to me. "I was walking through the hall after class, minding my own business, when my bag just suddenly split open and my books fell everywhere. What a coincidence that Caroline just happened to be walking by me at that moment with her wand out and was doing all she could not to start laughing at me."

I have to struggle not to roll my eyes at Bria. She can be very overdramatic at times. "I'm sure that it wasn't Caroline. Was anyone else around?"

"Well, the corridor was pretty full," Bria admits.

"If someone did that at all – and it's most likely that no one did – it probably wasn't Caroline. Why would she even do something like that?"

"Because she's evil and bent on destroying my life," Bria answers promptly.

"She is not evil and she has no reason to destroy your life," I tell Bria. Then I grin at her. "I think I know why you hate Caroline so much."

"Of course you do," she says, "I've only told you about a thousand times."

I ignore this and continue. "I think you're jealous that she's going out with Remus."

Bria frowns. "Why would I be jealous?"

"Because you like Remus."

Bria looks horrified. "I do not!"

I raise an eyebrow.

"I do not like Remus! Plus, I have hated Caroline since way before Remus started dating her. It's not like I'm the only one either. Sirius can't stand her," she points out. Bria should know by now that comparing herself to Sirius is not going to make a strong argument.

"What about Laura MacFarlan?" I ask. She looks at me in confusion.

"What about her?"

"You hated her too and she also went out with Remus," I point out in satisfaction.

"Yeah, but I didn't even like Remus then," she says.

"But you do now?" I grin.

Bria's eyes widen in shock. "No! What I meant was that you know that I didn't like him then because I liked that boy…what was his name?"

"Will Malone," I roll my eyes. Bria had a crush on the boy for a whole year and she can't even remember his name.

"Right, him," she answers smugly. "So, see? Your theory does not work."

"Okay, Bria, whatever you say," I answer. "But I think that Caroline seems like a very sweet girl."

"Of course you do," Bria answers, "she pretends to be nice so people won't know how horrible she really is."

Once again I have to keep myself from rolling my eyes. Being over-dramatic is just another one of those Potter traits.

**

* * *

**

-Remus POV-

"Where is it!" Sirius yells. I look over to see him pulling objects out from under his bed and throwing them around the room. I don't really think much of it, this type of behavior is typical for Sirius. If his stuff wasn't such a mess he wouldn't have such a difficult time finding things.

"Bloody hell! This is not good!" he says, emerging from under his bed. I grin at the smudges of dust on his face.

"I wouldn't be laughing if I were you, Moony," he turns to me. "This affects you too."

I decide to humor him. "What's wrong, Sirius?"

"The map is gone," he says. I sigh.

"I'm sure that it's here somewhere," I say calmly. "Are you sure someone else doesn't have it?"

"I'm positive. I had it last and I remember putting it under my bed."

"Well, it's not so hard to believe that you can't find it. It's a mess under there," I say, looking at the mess that has now exploded to cover half the room.

"It's an organized mess. I know where everything is," he says.

"You obviously don't know where everything is," I grin. I think he's being a bit over-dramatic. He must get it from those Potters.

"Fine, Remus, you try to find it," he challenges. I roll my eyes and get up to search through his mess.

Twenty minutes later I get up and sit on his bed. "It's gone."

"Told you so," he smirks.

I'm tempted to take a page out of Bria's book and punch him in the nose.

**

* * *

**

-James POV-

I walk hesitantly into the library. I prefer to avoid the library as much as possible. I look around and see Alice and Marlene sitting together at a table. I hurry over to them.

"Hello ladies," I say, taking a seat. I pull out my Defense book. I look up and see that they are both looking at me with looks of surprise.

"What is James Potter doing in the library?" Marlene asks. I'm surprised that she's asking me this as it's not often that she's in the library either.

"Er, you know, homework," I answer. Marlene is looking very suspicious. Alice smiles at me. That's why I like Alice, she's nice and doesn't always assume someone has an ulterior motive.

"That's great," she says. "You know, Lily's supposed to be meeting us here."

"Really?" I say. Then I frown as I realize that she does assume I have an ulterior motive. "Well, that's not why I'm here."

"Oh? You're not here because of Lily?" Alice seems surprised at this. Everything I do doesn't have to do with Lily. It's not like I'm obsessed. Except that right now I sort of am here because of Lily.

"Well, that's not exactly true…" I look intently at the table. Marlene lets out a snort of laughter.

I ignore Marlene. "I just wanted to get your opinion. Sirius thinks that there's no chance that Lily will ever change her mind and go out with me. I just…I don't know…I thought that now that we've become friends that…" I trail off.

Alice studies me thoughtfully. "I think once Lily gets past her denial she'll realize what a nice guy you are. I, personally, think she does like you. She's just having a hard time admitting it."

"Really?" I ask hopefully. I should always come to Alice with these types of things instead of Sirius. He is my best friend and all, but he always has the worst opinions on things. I don't think he really has much insight on other people.

"Don't ask me why though," Marlene speaks up. "Your whole asking-her-out-every-day act is not appealing and you really need to run a brush through your hair. It looks like you just made it through a hurricane. You do know what a brush is, don't you?"

"Ha ha," I say sarcastically.

"You know what we should do?" Alice says, her eyes lighting up in excitement. Marlene and I look at her expectantly.

"I've always wanted to set someone up," Alice says. "We could just give Lily a little bit of prodding in the right direction."

Marlene stares at her in surprise. "What?" Alice asks, frowning.

"You've never been the plotting type," Marlene says. It's true, Alice is rarely found making secret plots. "That's generally Bria's area."

"Well, I think we should. Plus, it would be lots of fun," Alice says with an excited smile. She turns to me. "What do you think?"

"Having your help would be loads better than any help I get from Sirius," I say. I glance down at my watch. "Actually, I should go."

"Aw," she says, looking disappointed. "You're not going to wait for Lily?"

"As much as you know I would like to I have places to be," I say.

"What places?" Marlene asks, raising an eyebrow.

"I'm off to manage mischief," I answer, standing, "that's all I can say."

"We understand," Alice says. "I'll leave that part out when I mention to Lily that you decided to come study in the library."

"Thanks," I grin. "See you girls later."

I turn and head towards the library door. Stella is not far away, her arms full of books, giving me a very strange look. I frown.

"What?" I ask. She looks startled.

"Oh, nothing," she says before hurrying away.

That was weird. I think she's been spending too much time around Bria. Or maybe it's just a Potter trait.

Oh wait, that can't be right. I'm a Potter.

**

* * *

**

-Remus POV-

"Do you really think it's her? I can't imagine her doing something like that."

Sirius and I are sitting in the common room, watching Stella. She's sitting at a table, writing something. Whatever she's doing she is very intent on it. She hasn't looked up once. This has made it a lot easier for us to watch her without her noticing.

"I'm sure of it," Sirius answers. "Plus, Bria was probably the mastermind behind whatever they were up to."

"Well, yeah, that does make more sense," I say. Bria snooping through our room is so unsurprising that I never really thought much of it after they left.

"What other explanation is there?" Sirius asks. "We did catch them in our room."

"So, what are we going to do?" I ask him. Sirius frowns as he thinks about it. They can't have any idea what the map actually is. The chances of them figuring out how to read the map are impossible. I would just ask them for it outright, but we have no proof that they have it and they'll most likely deny it.

"Let's ask her," Sirius says, standing up. Before I can protest he's halfway to her table. I hurry after him.

"Hi Stella," Sirius says, sitting down beside her. I sigh before taking a seat.

Stella looks up, startled. She quickly sticks her parchment in her closest school book.

"Oh, hello," she says. She's acting very flustered.

"What are you working on?" Sirius asks, nodding to the book.

"Hmm? Oh, er, Charms," she answers, avoiding eye contact. She is definitely up to something. She also needs to take lessons from Bria on appearing innocent. She's pretty horrible at it.

"Oh, really?" Sirius asks, appearing interested. He grabs the book and looks at the cover. She seems very nervous. "I didn't know that Potions books were helpful for Charms."

Well, I'm impressed. Sirius doesn't often pick up on those types of things.

"I wasn't using that book for my Charms work," Stella answers promptly. "I just happened to have it out."

Sirius nods. "What were you doing in our room the other day?" he asks bluntly. Stella looks taken aback, but quickly recovers.

"Nothing," she answers vaguely.

"You were in our room, hiding under our beds, doing nothing?" Sirius asks skeptically. Stella looks around the room as if searching for some way to get away from Sirius.

"Er – Bria just wanted to – um – prank you guys," she says. "She dragged me into it."

"What was the prank?" Sirius asks.

"I don't know. She didn't have one planned. She said she'd come up with something when we got there."

Sirius frowns. It's obvious that she's lying but there's no way we're going to get the truth out of her.

"I have to go," Stella says suddenly, gathering her things and standing up. "I'll talk to you later."

She hurries away before either of us can say anything else. Sirius looks at me in dismay.

"What are we going to do now?" he cries. I give him a small smile.

"Go get the invisibility cloak."

**

* * *

**

-Brianna POV-

I'm reading Witch Weekly when the door to our room suddenly opens. Thinking it's Lily, I quickly grab my Potions book and pretend to read it. I promised her that I'd study for Potions if she didn't make me go to the library with her. I glance up casually from the book to see that it's not Lily who's entered, but Stella. She is out of breath and looking very excited. I close the book.

"I figured it out!" she announces, setting her things down on her bed. I frown.

"Figured what out?" I ask.

"How to read the parchment." Oh, duh.

My eyes widen in surprise and excitement. "How did you figure it out? Did you find some spell or something?"

"No," she says, sitting down next to me. "I thought it must be some password that they came up with. I've been listening to them talking together recently and I realized what it was."

I look at her expectantly while she just sits beside me. What is she waiting for? "Well, let's do it."

She glances at the door, uncertainly. "Let's go somewhere where we won't be interrupted. How about outside?"

"Sure, I guess," I say unenthusiastically. I know that she's right, but it's getting pretty cold out there. We each grab a cloak, and Stella gets the parchment – tucking it out of sight – and we head out. When we reach the common room I notice Stella look around, as if trying to spot something. We hurry out of the portrait hole.

"Sirius and Remus are suspicious," she explains as we walk down the hall. "I think they know we have the parchment. They were asking a lot of questions."

"I'm sure they didn't think we'd ever be able to open it," I grin. "I guess we outsmarted them. Or at least you did."

I swear at this moment I hear a quiet laugh. But it's such a brief moment that I'm sure I must have imagined it. Especially because there's no one in the halls.

We continue to hurry through the halls in silence. I can't wait to open the parchment and see what it is. I'm surprised I didn't know about it. I know most of their secrets. At least, I thought I did. Now I'm not so sure. I'll have to have a stern talk with James when we get back. I'll just have to figure out how to leave out the part about me stealing the parchment, whatever it is.

Suddenly there's a loud crash. We both stop instantly, turning around. One of the suits of armor is wobbling as if something bumped into it. The hall is completely deserted. We both stand still, trying to see if we spot anyone, but everything is still.

"Peeves," I say after a few minutes. Stella nods and we continue on our way, cautiously.

When we get outside I have to tighten my cloak around me. It's gotten quite chilly out. I'd rather no one found out what we are up to, but is secrecy really so important that we have to be out in this cold?

Stella leads me to a tree that's not far from the edge of the lake. We settle down underneath it. She looks around carefully again, as if someone is going to jump out from one of the bushes. Satisfied that we are alone, she pulls the parchment out. I watch in anticipation as she opens it.

"I solemnly swear I'm up to no good," Stella says, tapping the parchment with her wand.

Hey, I've heard that before! James sometimes says that to our parents. We both stare at the parchment as lines and writing begin to appear across it. Soon it is filled with what appears to be some sort of map.

"What is it?" I ask, giving Stella a curious look. She is looking intently at the parchment with a frown. Then her expressions smoothes in realization.

"It's a map of Hogwarts," she exclaims. I look more closely and see that she's right. Then I notice that there are many small dots that are moving around. Each one has a name. I wonder who they are until I come to one I recognize: Marlene McKinnon. It shows the dot of Marlene in the library. I know for a fact that Marlene went to the library with Alice.

"This shows where people are in Hogwarts!" I say. Stella looks shocked.

"Look, that's us," she says, pointing to our names near the lake. It's true. Two dots are labeled with our names. But there are two other dots right behind us.

"It must not be working," she shakes her head, glancing behind us. There is no one there. "It says that – "

She stops as the parchment leaves her grasp and disappears. She gasps and looks wildly around. We are the only ones out here.

I give her a knowing look. I reach out and grab at the air. My hands close over what I'm looking for and I pull. Suddenly, Sirius and Remus are standing in front of us. Sirius is clutching the map.

"Hey!" Stella says indignantly. "You can't just spy on us like that!"

"Aw, it's cute that you think that," Sirius gives her a patronizing smile, "but you stole this from our room."

"I did hear a laugh in the halls," I say, pointing at Sirius, "It was you!"

"Well, that was quite hilarious," Sirius says, "But that was actually Remus."

Remus shrugs, giving me a smile.

"You'd think he'd be better at sneaking through the halls," Sirius says.

Remus snorts. "Says the one who ran into the suit of armor."

"It was your fault," Sirius accuses. "You pushed me."

"I did not push you. You weren't even paying attention to where you were going!"

"Excuse me? I happen to have – "

"Do you think they'll notice if we just leave?" I whisper to Stella as the two argue. They both stop and look at me.

"Oh not you don't, Sweets," Sirius says, looking as though he's highly enjoying himself.

"You two aren't getting off the hook that easy," Remus says sternly.

"Look, it really wasn't my fault," Stella says in a pleading tone, "Bria dragged me into it. I didn't have any choice."

I look at her in shock. I can't believe she'd just give me up that way. Plus, even if I did sort of drag her into it, she was just as involved in it as I was. She's had her head stuck in books trying to figure out how to unlock that map.

"While I approve of your method of trying to put blame on someone else," Sirius says, "that is not going to work on me."

I give Sirius a weird look. He and Stella have been acting strange lately. Like when he gave her a thumbs up after we had snuck into their room. Well, he's always been a bit off his rocker, so it shouldn't really come as a surprise.

"Do you really think Bria's pretty?" Stella blurts out, looking at Remus.

"Wh-what?" Remus splutters, his face turning red. My own cheeks feel as if they're burning. But I'm also impressed. Stella is clearly trying to distract them.

Sirius has this really strange look on. It's as if this question has upset him. I'm not quite sure why. "I'm sure he does, Bria is pretty," he says. I'm shocked to hear Sirius say that. Even if he did think it, I would never have imagined him saying it out loud. At least not in front of me.

He is looking intently at Stella. "I'm sure he thinks you're pretty too. Don't you, Remus?"

Remus is looking at Sirius in confusion. "Sure, I guess. What does that have to do with anything?"

"Oh Merlin, what are they doing?!" Stella exclaims, pointing to a distant spot along the shore of the lake. I roll my eyes. She obviously has a lot to learn about distracting people.

I look anyway. Then my mouth opens in shock. I glance over to see that the other three are wearing identical expressions of shock and surprise. I look back to see if maybe I just imagined the whole thing. But I haven't.

Lily and Severus Snape are kissing.

* * *

**Sneak peak from next chapter:**

"_So, how are you Remmie?" she asks, putting a hand on his shoulder. Remmie? How nauseating. I don't think I can stand to listen to this._

_"I'm hungry," I announce, standing up. "I'm going to go down to the kitchens." _

_"I'll go with you," Sirius says, standing up as well. _

_I see Caroline is looking at me with a strangely triumphant look. I have no idea why. Remus, on the other hand, looks disapproving._

_"It's after hours," he says, "you shouldn't be out."_

_"Oh, I think we'll manage," I say, patting my bag where I had stuffed James' cloak after catching the boys by the lake. Sirius smirks. We turn and head towards the portrait hole. _

_I turn back before exiting to see Caroline smirking at me. _

_Have I mentioned that I hate Caroline?_

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A/N: Please review!!! :)


	12. Steal My Kisses

**Chapter 12: Steal My Kisses**

A/N: Sorry I haven't update in SOOOOO long. I've been really busy with school. I'll be finished soon, however, so hopefully I'll be able to update more often.

**

* * *

**

-Brianna POV-

"We can't tell anyone about what we saw," Remus says, his voice lowered. I nod, highly aware of how close we are sitting to each other. I'm not sure why, because I've sat next to Remus loads of times. But for some reason I keep noticing.

"Except James, of course," Sirius says, also nodding.

"Especially not James," Stella says. The two are sitting in chairs across from the couch that Remus and I are on.

Sirius frowns. "What? How can I not tell James?"

"James can't find out about this," Remus says. "Besides, it's not our business to tell."

"Aw, come on," Sirius pouts. Remus gives him a stern look.

"They're right," I agree. "I just can't wait to hear what Lily has to say about all of this."  
Remus turns his stern look on me. "You can't tell Lily about what we saw either."

"Why not? She obviously already knows what happened," I say. As I'm saying this I notice what nice lips Remus has. I bet he's a really good kisser. Wait, what?! Why would I think something like that? Friends don't think about kissing other friends!

"Why are you blushing, Sweets?" Sirius asks. I glare at him. How typical of him to have to go and point something like that out.

Stella ignores Sirius. "You can't tell Lily. If she wants us to know, she'll tell us."

I grin triumphantly. "Well, she's obviously going to tell me anyway."

"Until she does you can't say anything to her," Remus says, looking at me intently. I avoid eye-contact with him. Now that I've had these weird thoughts it's hard to look at him.

"Yeah, okay," I shrug, defeated. Why are they making me keep secrets from my best friend? Don't they know how hard that is? I tell Lily everything. Okay, so I didn't tell her about the whole Sight thing. But still, I tell her _almost_ everything.

"You know, it's not very fair of you to tell me to keep a secret from my best friend," Sirius says glumly, sharing my own sentiments.

Stella is about to respond when Caroline strides up to us. She gives me a particularly unpleasant look, but no one else seems to notice. Sirius has turned his glum look towards Caroline, Stella is smiling sweetly at her, and Remus is…well, Remus is actually looking at me.

"Hello, Remus," she says, giving him a sugary smile. Remus looks up, startled. "Mind if I join you?"

"Not at all," he smiles. She then proceeds to squeeze in between us. Which is ridiculous because there is a ton of space on the other side of Remus. In the process she elbows me multiple times and I know that it's not by accident. Once she's settled I rub my sore side, but don't say anything.

"So, how are you Remmie?" she asks, putting a hand on his shoulder. Remmie? How nauseating. I don't think I can stand to listen to this.

"I'm hungry," I announce, standing up. "I'm going to go down to the kitchens."

"I'll go with you," Sirius says, standing up as well.

I see Caroline is looking at me with a strangely triumphant look. I have no idea why. Remus, on the other hand, looks disapproving.

"It's after hours," he says, "you shouldn't be out."

"Oh, I think we'll manage," I say, patting my bag where I had stuffed James' cloak after catching the boys by the lake. Sirius smirks. We turn and head towards the portrait hole.

I turn back before exiting to see Caroline smirking at me.

Have I mentioned that I hate Caroline?

**

* * *

**

-Sirius POV-

I'm sitting next to Alice. It's a Saturday and we're the only two 6th year Gryffindors who've gotten up. It's pretty early. I don't usually get up this early, but I woke up thinking about the secret that I can't tell James and I couldn't get back to sleep. I wonder if Alice knows. Then again, if she hasn't told Bria then she probably hasn't told Alice. Though Alice would probably be more understanding that Bria would. When I think about it, however, I actually haven't ever heard Bria say anything bad about Snape.

"I'm going to set up James and Lily," Alice suddenly blurts, pulling me from my thoughts.

"What?" I frown.

"I told James I'd help him out with Lily," she says.

"Good luck with that," I say, thinking about Lily kissing Snape. Which is really such an unimaginable thought. I mean, I know that they used to be friends. But who would ever want to kiss that slimy git?

"Look, I know that you think it's a lost cause," Alice says. "James told me. But I was really hoping that you'd help me out. It could be fun."

I look at her hopeful expression. I know that it'll never work, as apparently there's something going on between Lily and Snape. Every time I think that I have to suppress a shudder.

"I don't know," I say, thinking, "I'm already working on getting Stella and Remus together, and that's been proving difficult – " Oh, shit. I shouldn't have shared that.

Alice looks confused. "Stella and Remus? Why?"  
I guess it's too late, I might as well tell her the truth. "Because Stella likes Remus."

Alice laughs. "No she doesn't. Where'd you get an idea like that?"

"Yes she does. She told me," I say. Alice looks very confused.

"I really don't think that's true," she says, her brows furrowed. She has this expression like she knows something that I don't.

"Look, it's true," I say. "But I shouldn't have even told you. If I agree to help you with James will you promise not to tell Stella I told you that?"

"Okay," Alice grins happily. "Now that you've already said you'd help me I should tell you that I wouldn't have told Stella anyway."

"You are more devious than anyone gives you credit for," I say, grinning.

Alice just grins impishly back at me before returning to the Daily Prophet.

**

* * *

**

-Brianna POV-

I'm currently sitting at a table in the library with Lily. She's working very intently on her Potions essay. I'm surprised that she hasn't realized yet that something's up. I mean, when have I ever just decided it might be nice to go to the library? The only time I ever go to the library is when I'm forced. Except for now, because I'm really hoping that Lily will decide to tell me about kissing Snape. Which is still really weird to even think. I know they used to be friends and all, but kissing Snape? It grosses me out just to think about. I know that sounds horribly mean, but it's true. How could anyone want to kiss someone with hair that greasy? Trust me, unlike my brother and his friends I don't have anything personal against Snape. I'm not too fond of Slytherins in general, but I have no reason to dislike him. Plus, like I said, he and Lily used to be really good friends and Lily is my best friend. Not that that makes us friends or anything.

Unfortunately, Lily has shown no signs of telling me anything. Maybe I should have thought this out a little more. I'm beginning to realize that if I want Lily to talk to me the last place I should go is the library, what with Lily being so dedicated to following the rules and all. It's just that the library is the most predictable place to find her and the most likely place to find her alone. Well, maybe if I give her a few hints she'll tell me. I'm sure she'll tell me about it without me having to break my promise not to say anything to her.

"Ahem," I clear my throat. She doesn't look up. Maybe I should try a little louder. "AHEM!"

She looks up at me. "Are you alright?"

"Oh, yeah, I'm fine," I say casually. "How are you?"

"Fine," she says, starting to look back down at her work.

"Anything new?" I say quickly.

"No, not really," she answers. I frown. I gave her the perfect opening. How could she not tell something like this to her BEST FRIEND!?

"It's been awhile since we've really had a good talk," I say earnestly. "Are you sure there's nothing new that's come up that you want to talk to me about?"

"Yes, I'm sure." Now she's looking at me strangely. I think she's getting suspicious that I'm up to something. "Why, is there something you wanted to tell me?"

"No," I say, "I just thought we could have a heart-to-heart."

"I'm not sure this is exactly the place for a heart-to-heart."

"I know. I just got the sense that there was something on your mind that you really wanted to share with me," I say, giving her a significant look. How obvious do I have to be? Maybe if I share that I think I have the Sight she'll feel obligated to tell me that she kissed Snape.

"I really don't have anything on my mind," she says. Now she's really suspicious. Well, okay, here goes.

"What if I share a secret with you and then you share a secret with me?" I say. I don't want to tell her if she's then not going to tell me about her secret.

"I don't have a secret to tell you," Lily says, now looking at me like I'm crazy. Which I just might be. If I hadn't seen her kiss Snape with my own eyes I'd probably be convinced that it hadn't happened. She's doing a great acting job. "What secret do you have that you haven't told me?"

Oops. I guess I didn't think my plan through all the way. Now she knows that I have a secret. I should probably just tell her. She is my best friend, after all. I just don't think I really want anyone else knowing. Not yet. I have to distract her, quickly, so she'll forget about it. Quick, Bria, think of a distraction!

"I saw you kissing Snape!" I blurt out. Okay, that's not what I meant to say.

"What?!" She's staring at me with a horrified look on her face.

"Well, yeah, I saw you…and Snape…" Now I feel a little bad. She looks upset. Maybe I shouldn't mention that I wasn't the only one.

Lily's face is beet red and her mouth is wide open, but she isn't saying anything. I'll just wait patiently until she finds some words.

"Look, Bri, it's not what you think," she finally says quietly.

"What is it?"

"Severus kissed me," she explains. "I didn't want to kiss him. You probably would have known that, too, if you'd spied on me long enough to see me pull away and slap him," she adds, some of the spunk returning to her voice.

I grin. "You slapped him? That's bloody brilliant!"

She grins back. "It did feel pretty good. You know, he's a real prat."

I laugh. Though I've never really said anything to Lily, I've always kind of thought that myself.

"Then, after all that, he had the nerve to tell me not to date James."

"What?" I ask, my head snapping up in interest.

"Yeah. As if he had the right to tell me what to do," Lily rolled her eyes. "I don't owe him anything."

"What did you say?" I ask.

"I told him that I'd date whoever I want," Lily answered. I raise an eyebrow. She frowns at me. "What?"

"The old I-hate-James-Potter Lily would have been angry that he'd even suggest you ever wanted to go out with James in the first place," I tell her. "The new I-love-James-Potter Lily basically told him that you will date James and there's nothing he can do about it."

Lily falters. Then she quickly puts on a very prim expression. "First of all, I like James as a friend a nothing more. Second, I simply resented Severus trying to tell me who I can or cannot date."

Who is she kidding? She is completely in love with my brother!

**

* * *

**

-Sirius POV-

I will not tell James about Lily. I will not tell James about Lily. I will not –

"Hiya, Padfoot!"  
I jump, falling off my bed, as the door slams shut. I turn to glare at James. He saunters into the room with a smile on his face.

"Don't do that!" I say. He raises an eyebrow at me.

"Why are you so jumpy?"

"No reason," I shrug, nonchalantly. Yes, I am smart enough to know what 'nonchalant' means. Really, I am. Okay, I admit it, Remus taught me that one.

James narrows his eyes, but says nothing. I was kind of secretly hoping he bug me about it until I was forced to tell him the truth.

"So, have you seen Snivellus lately?" I ask. I know I shouldn't be bringing that up. I just can't help it. Still, I promised Remus that I wouldn't tell James, so I won't.

"Actually, I just did," James says. "He was quite angry at me. I'm not sure why. I mean, I know we aren't exactly friends," I have to snort at this. That's a bit of an understatement, "but this was worse than usual. Plus, I haven't done anything to him in ages."

That actually is weird. If Snape just kissed Lily, why would he be mad at James?

James looks at me suspiciously. "You haven't done anything to him, have you?"

"No. I haven't seen him all week," I say quickly. Maybe I'll just tell him the truth. No! I can't. But he really deserves to know. It's not my place to tell. But he's my best friend. No, I said I wouldn't. Remus would kill me.

"Are you talking to yourself?" James asks. He's looking at me as if I've finally gone over the edge. Which I probably have, to be honest. "What's going on with you today?"

"Nothing, Prongs," I say. I really can't take this anymore. Maybe I should just leave the room so I won't be tempted to tell him.

I stand up. "I think I'm going to go to the library."

"Padfoot, tell me what is going on right now," he looks at me intently. "You never go to the library."

"I said nothing," I say. I'm starting to sweat. I hate lying to my best friend. He keeps looking at me and it's making me nervous. I swear, I will not tell him. I will not! I promise that I –

"Lily kissed Snape!" I say suddenly. Bugger!

James just looks at me. Then he gets up and walks out of the room, slamming the door.

Well, that didn't go over too well.

**

* * *

**

-Stella POV-

I am going to kill Sirius Black. Why am I going to kill him? Because I just found out that he told Alice that I'm in love with Remus. Which isn't even true to begin with. But even if it were, the fact that he can't even keep a simple secret is infuriating.

Of course I quickly assured Alice that it's not true.

"I thought Sirius must be mistaken," she said, laughing. She then made me promise I wouldn't tell Sirius she'd told me because she had promised him she wouldn't tell me that he'd told her. That doesn't make much sense, but you get the idea.

So now I am looking for Sirius so I can kill him. Okay, so maybe I won't kill him. But I really don't want him telling everyone that I have a crush on Remus. Which I don't.

As I'm striding up towards the Gryffindor tower, I see James storming towards me. He does not look happy.

"James, what's wrong?" I ask as he gets closer. He stops short, startled for a moment to see me standing there.

"Nothing," he says gruffly, moving to walk around me.

I put out an arm to stop him. "James…" He looks like he's about to murder someone. It makes me forget about the person I was just headed to murder.

He looks at me and sighs. "Apparently, Lily and Snape kissed. At least, that's what Sirius tells me."

"Sirius told you that?!" I exclaim. I can't believe this. The boy can't keep just one secret? What is wrong with him?

James looks at me strangely. "Yes."

"I am going to kill him," I say, before hurrying off towards the Gryffindor tower once again. James watches me storm off, confused.

I quickly shout 'pixie dust' as I reach the portrait hole and hurry inside. As I stride towards the boys staircase, Bria pops up in front of me.

"Stella, I just – "

I walk around her. As I start up the staircase I can hear her following behind me.

I reach the door of the sixth year boys' room. I don't bother knocking. I throw the door open.

Sirius, who's lying on his bed, sits up when I enter. Remus turns around in surprise. Bria hurries in behind me, bumping into me when I stop suddenly.

"Ever heard of knocking?" Sirius asks, frowning.

"You," I say, pointing at him, "can't seem to keep a single secret to yourself!"

"What?"

"I know what you told Alice," I accuse. At least he has the decency to look guilty.

"What did he tell Alice?" Bria asks from behind me, confused. Remus is looking at me in curiosity.

I quickly move on, ignoring Bria. "I also know that you told James about Lily."

Remus rolls his eyes. "Really, Sirius? You couldn't just keep that one thing to yourself?"

"Sirius!" Bria cries. She walks up to him and hits him in the back of the head. "What did you go and do that for?"  
"Ow!" Sirius frowns, putting a hand on his head.

"Now you've ruined everything!"

"What've I ruined?" Sirius asks.

"Lily didn't _want_ to kiss Snape," she says. "_He _kissed _her._ Now you've gone and ruined things between her and James!"

"What things between her and James?" Sirius asks.

"How do you know that?" Remus asks Bria, looking at her suspiciously.

"Um…" she hesitates, looking at the floor.

Now it's my turn to roll my eyes. "You told Lily?"

Sirius smirks at Bria. "You can't really blame me when you didn't do much better yourself."

"What is wrong with the two of you?" Remus sighs in frustration. Sirius just shrugs, but Bria looks surprised at Remus' reaction. "Can't either of you just keep one simple secret? Do you two have to tell them everything?"

"I haven't told Lily all my secrets," Bria says in defense. I know that she's referring to her secret that she has the Sight. Or, as she always insists, she _might_ have it.

"What's your secret that you haven't told Lily?" Sirius asks curiously. Remus is wearing an expression of exasperation mixed with interest.

"If I haven't told Lily do you really think I'd tell you?"

"Let's get back to the point," I say. "Which is that Sirius can't seem to keep a secret."

"What's the other sec– " Bria begins, but Sirius interrupts her.

"And that Bria can't either," he points out. I'm annoyed for a second until he winks at me. I think he did that on purpose, to distract Bria from bugging me about my secret. Which isn't even a real secret to begin with. All this secret stuff is starting to get a bit ridiculous.

"Yeah, well now I'm going to have to go a fix the damage that you did because you just _had_ to go tell James about Lily kissing Snape," Bria states. She then turns to leave. Before she reaches the door, Remus reaches out and grabs her arm. She turns back around.

"Please just leave them alone. They can work it out themselves," Remus says. Her eyes narrow. I'm very surprised, I've never seen Bria glare at Remus like that before. Sure, she's glared at Sirius and James loads of times, but never Remus. In fact, I don't think I've ever seen her upset with Remus before. You know, in the whole three months that I've known him.

"Lily is _my_ best friend and James is _my_ brother, so I will do whatever I want," she says. Then she pulls her arm out of Remus' grasp and walks out of the room, slamming the door behind her.

Well, that was dramatic. Then again, Bria's always been prone to the dramatics.

Remus looks shocked. Sirius, on the other hand, is grinning widely. "Well, she sure told you, Moony."

If I didn't know Remus better, I'd be worried that he was going to seriously hurt Sirius right now. No pun intended.

Sneak peak from the next chapter:

_

* * *

_

A/N: The next chapter is completely dedicated to Lily and James!!! I'll try to have it up as soon as possible.

Sneak peak from next week:

____

We sit in silence for a few minutes. I can tell that Sirius is fuming about being called arrogant. Though, you have to admit, he is rather arrogant.

_I, on the other hand, have bigger things to worry about. Like the fact that I'm in love with a girl who is possibly dating Severus Snape. _

_"Hello!" A cheerful voice greets. I don't have to look up to know that Bria is grinning down at me. She sits down next to Sirius. I raise an eyebrow at her upbeat mood and notice that Sirius is giving her a similar expression._

_"What are you so happy about?" Sirius asks grumpily. She probably wouldn't be so happy if she knew what Caroline had said about her. I mean, Bria fancying Remus? I still can't get over the absurdity of the thought._


	13. Hot and Cold

**Chapter 13: Hot and Cold**

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.

**

* * *

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**-Lily POV-**

I'm walking down the hall, thinking about James Potter. I know, who would have ever thought I'd be thinking about James? I certainly would never have guessed. It's just that ever since Bria mentioned that I'm in love with James I've been wondering if she's right. Not that I think I'm _in love_ with him. However, I've realized that I really enjoy being around him. I actually look forward to spending time with him, which is so weird. I used to dread being in the same room as him. In fact, I thought this past summer at the Potters' was going to be dreadful. Just not more dreadful than being at home with Petunia and her boyfriend. It turned out to be one of the best summers I've ever had.

I turn the corner to see none other than James himself. He has his ear pressed against a door. He straightens, shakes his head, and moves to the next door. I smile, ignoring his odd behavior. After knowing the Potters for over five years, you learn to overlook the odd things that they do.

"Hi James," I say. He glances at me.

"Oh, hi," he says vaguely. Then he presses his ear up against another door.

James has been strangely distant recently. I can't figure out why. He rarely talks to me. In fact, the only times he does talk to me are when I say something first, and even then he'll give me a one or two word response. It's as if he's mad at me for something, but I can't figure out what.

"Have you done that Transfiguration essay?" I ask, trying to make conversation. "Because I can't – "

"Shh," he says, his ear pressed tightly against a door.

I frown. "What are you – "

"Shh," he says again as he straightens. He grabs me by the arm, opens a door next to the one his ear was against, and pulls me through.

We're in a small closet. A few months ago I would have been completely indignant right now. I mean, James Potter just pulled me into a broom closet. However, there are three reasons why I'm not upset at all:

I don't hate James anymore. In fact, I think I might fancy him.

James appears to not be too happy with me right now.

He's no where near me. He now has his ear pressed up against a vent on the side of the closet.

For some reason my heart started pounding when I realized that James had pulled me into a closet. Now I'm watching him in confusion.

"What are you doing?" I ask.

"SHH!" he says again. "I'm trying to listen."

Listen to what? I bend down and put my ear up against the vent as well, to see what he's listening for. I'm surprised when I hear voices coming through. Whoever's talking must be in the room next door.

I hear a voice that sounds very familiar, but I can't quite place it. A girl replies. I recognize that voice very well. It's Darcie Malfoy.

"Really, Rodolphus, that's a horrible idea," another voice says arrogantly. I recognize that voice only because it sounds so similar to Sirius'. It must be Regulus.

"Do you have a better suggestion?" Lestrange demands. "Because, thanks to you, Gryffindor beat us in our last match. We can't let them win the cup his year."

"Actually, I do," Regulus answers. Then he goes into a detailed explanation of a strategy filled with quidditch terms. I have a difficult time following what he's saying. James, on the other hand, seems to understand perfectly. His frown deepens as he listens.

I pretend to be listening also, but I'm suddenly well aware of how close we are. Our faces are just inches from each other. I can feel his breath on my face. I've never been this close to James before. I shiver. Suddenly, I'm overcome with a desire to kiss him. That's right, I want to kiss James Potter. Unfortunately, he is completely oblivious to the fact I'm there. Plus, based on his recent behavior, I'm sure he has absolutely no desire to kiss me. He may have claimed to be in love with me for the last three years, but he clearly doesn't feel that way anymore.

I don't even notice that the voices are gone or that James has stood up until he says, "Er, sorry about that." I straighten.

"Oh, that's fine. I didn't realize you were, er, spying on them," I say, looking at the ground awkwardly. I'm not usually awkward or uncomfortable around people. This is really strange. Suddenly, I feel the strong urge to get away. I reach for the door. However, before I can open it, James places an arm on my shoulder to hold me back. I frown. What is he doing?

I hear voices coming from the hallway.

"I can't stand Brianna Potter," I hear the voice of Caroline say.

"Why?" someone asks, "she seems nice to me."

"She thinks she's better than everyone else," Caroline says. "She and her brother are so arrogant. Sirius Black is too, for that matter. And it's clear that she's been trying to steal Remus from me since the moment we started going out."

"Are you sure? I thought they were friends."

"They were, until she realized that I had something she didn't," Caroline answers. I frown. "She's always hated me. She's clearly jealous that I'm with Remus."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, trust me. Remus has told me all about what she's really like. Plus, I saw her snogging Derek McNaulty just the other day. Everyone thinks she's so innocent, but it's all just an act."

My eyes widen as the voices fade off down the hall. I never believed Bria about Caroline, but it turns out she was right. Caroline what clearly just lying to her friends about Bria. I know for a fact that Bria has never even thought about snogging McNaulty and Remus would never say anything bad about her.

I look at James in surprise. He's looking angry.

"Who's she calling arrogant?" he says indignantly. I can't help but laugh at this. He looks at me, as if he's suddenly realized where we are. He opens the door and we step into the hall.

"I should go," he says quickly. "I have to, er, study."

He hurries away, leaving me standing alone in the hallway.

I think I may have an idea of how I've left him feeling all these years.

* * *

**-James POV-**

I almost kissed Lily Evans. I was spying on the Slytherins, who were planning strategy for quidditch. I was listening them when suddenly I realized that I was standing in a broom closet, inches away from Lily. And she hadn't said a thing. I almost kissed her. Then, of course, I realized what a stupid idea that would be.

I need to stay away from her. I've finally realized what Lily (and everyone else) has been telling me for ages. She has absolutely no interest in me. I guess I always held out hope that she'd change her mind. Finding out about her and Snape was a wake-up call. She clearly would rather be with Snape than me. Which is very disappointing. I mean, of all people, Severus Snape?

So it's now time for me to finally get over her. The only way I'm going to do that is to keep my distance.

On another note, apparently Sirius was right about Caroline all along. She's not as sweet as she leads everyone to believe. We just heard her saying all these lies about Bria. She said Bria was trying to steal Remus from her. That's just ridiculous. I mean, Bria having feelings for Remus? That's absurd. Just thinking about it makes me want to laugh. I would laugh if Caroline hadn't also said that I was arrogant. I tell Sirius about it when I sit down next to him at lunch. It's a Saturday and there aren't very many people there yet.

"Aw, mate, you're not arrogant," Sirius assures me.

"Really? You think?"

"Well, not too much…anymore," he adds.

"She also said you were arrogant," I tell him as I put chicken on my plate.

"She said what?" Sirius is suddenly as indignant as I was. "Who does she think she's calling arrogant? I'm not arrogant! Even if I was, she has no right to say that. She doesn't even know me. Not to mention that she's the most – "

"Hey, Moony," I say. Sirius' head whips around so fast I'm sure he must have pulled a muscle. He turns back around and glares at me.

"Very funny," he mutters. We sit in silence for a few minutes. I can tell that Sirius is fuming about being called arrogant. Though, you have to admit, he _is_ rather arrogant.

I, on the other hand, have bigger things to worry about. Like the fact that I'm in love with a girl who is possibly dating Severus Snape.

"Hello!" A cheerful voice greets. I don't have to look up to know that Bria is grinning down at me. She sits down next to Sirius. I raise an eyebrow at her upbeat mood and notice that Sirius is giving her a similar expression.

"What are you so happy about?" Sirius asks grumpily. She probably wouldn't be so happy if she knew what Caroline had said about her. I mean, Bria fancying Remus? I still can't get over the absurdity of the thought.

"Oh, nothing," she practically sings, giving me a knowing look. Does she know that Lily kissed Snape and is happy about it? She may tolerate him, but how could she ever be happy about something like that? Lily may be her best mate, but I'm her twin brother for Merlin's sake.

She looks around the room. "James, have you seen Lily recently?"

I glower at her. "No, why would I have?"

"Oh, she was talking about you earlier. I thought maybe she had gone looking for you," Bria says in an offhand manner. She was talking about me? What would she have done that for?

I notice Bria elbow Sirius in the side. "She asked me where you were," Sirius says tonelessly. "Didn't she come find you?"

Before I have the chance to answer, the two of them enter into a heated, whispered conversation. I watch them across the table in confusion.

"Hi James!" gushes another voice. I look up to see Alice standing beside me. If possible, her smile is even larger than Bri's.

"Er – hi," I answer. She plops down next to me.

I'm wondering if her mouth hurts from smiling like that. "James, how are you?"

"Fine," I answer. Maybe, if I give her short answers, she'll leave me to my miserable thoughts. I love Alice, don't get me wrong. I'm just not wanting to be around cheerful people at the moment.

"For Merlin's sake, you _are_ arrogant. Just get over it and focus!" Bria's voice raises enough for me to catch this part of their conversation. Alice turns in their direction.

"Hi Bria, Sirius," she greets. She gives Sirius a wink. Am I going crazy, or did Alice Montgomery just wink at Sirius Black? Sirius is looking back and forth between the two girls. It almost looks as though he is trying to decide which one is the lesser of two evils. These girls are clearly up to something.

"Oh, look, it's Lily!" Alice says excitedly. Why does everyone have to keep talking about Lily? Alice waves her arms frantically as Lily and Remus walk in our direction. "Lily, Remus, over here!" I notice Bria giving Alice a suspicious look.

The two approach our table. "Lily, come sit next to me," Alice says brightly. Lily comes around the table towards us. As she reaches us, Alice quickly slide over, patting a now empty spot between her and me. Lily frowns slightly, but sits down. Remus is looking hesitantly at the empty seat next to Bria. After a few moments, he sits down. Bria seems to be purposely ignoring him. Which is strange, because she and Remus usually get on quite well.

I honestly don't think I've gone crazy. I think everyone around me has gone crazy. Alice is watching Lily and I with an enormous smile, not saying a word. Bria and Sirius have continued their whispered conversation, which Remus has now joined. He is not looking happy. Something is going on.

* * *

**-Lily POV-**

I sit at the table quietly. Bria, Remus, and Sirius are all whispering among themselves. James is sitting next to me, appearing to be sulking about something. Alice is looking at me quite intensely. I tried to start a conversation with her but she just smiled and didn't answer.

I'm quite sure I hear Sirius whisper, "This is stupid" and Remus say "No" before Bria looks up at James and says, "James, I completely forgot that I can't be your partner for the potions project."

James looks up, "What? Why?"

Bria is looking as though she feels bad about it, but I can't help but notice the small smile she's wearing. "I had already told Sirius I would be his partner. He was just reminding me."

"But, Remus, you said you were Sirius' partner," James looks at Remus with a frown. Remus rolls his eyes.

"No, I'm partners with Peter," he says reluctantly. Bria looks satisfied.

Bria frowns, as if she doesn't know what to do. Suddenly, she perks up. "Lily, weren't you just saying you don't have a partner yet? Why don't you and James be partners?"

I hesitate for two reasons. One is that I've recently become strangely uncomfortable around James due to recent revelations of mine. The other is that I'm quite sure that he has developed a sudden hatred of me, though I have no idea why. I glance over at him to see that he does not appear happy about it.

"Lily, you don't have to," he says quickly, giving me a small smile. "I'm sure you have someone else you'd rather be partners with."

"No, it's fine," I say just as quickly. Then I curse myself because he clearly was trying to get out of being partners with me.

"Well, in that case…" he hesistates, "I suppose that'd be fine."

"Okay, fine," I say, forcing a smile. I should be happy that we're partners but that's difficult considering that he would rather be with anyone but me.

"Great!" Bria grins. I'm pretty sure her smile falters as she watches us. James looks miserable and I feel miserable.

I'm pretty sure I see her glare at Sirius before the two of them returned to their quiet conversation. Whatever it is they're talking about, Sirius does not look pleased. The rest of us fall into a silence which, for me, is not very comfortable. Finally, after about fifteen minutes, James speaks up.

"I'm going to the library," he announces. We all look at him in surprise. It is very rare that James Potter would willingly go to the library, especially on a Saturday. He stands up.

"I'll come with you," Alice says enthusiastically, though I notice that she has barely eaten any of her food. Probably because she was so occupied with watching us instead of eating. James just shrugs.

They start to walk away, but Alice turns towards me. "Wait, Lily, weren't you saying that you had to go to the library today?"

"Yes," I say slowly. I had told Alice that I would probably be spending most of the day in the library, working on the essay we have due for Flitwick on Monday.

"Why don't you join us?" she suggests.

Obviously I have to go with them now. I hear a quiet chuckle and turn to see Remus staring intently at his food, trying to hide a smile. Bria is giving him a rather evil eye. What is up with her today? I don't know that I've ever seen Bria angry at Remus before.

"Yeah, sure," I say, getting up. I grab my book bag, which I had brought down with me so I could head straight to the library after lunch. I join them as they head out of the Great Hall. Before I'm out of earshot of the table, I hear Bria say, "So it's funny when Alice does it, but when I do there's something wrong with it?"

I'm out of earshot before I can hear the response.

As soon as we are in the Entrance Hall, Alice turns to us. "I forgot my book bag," she says. I frown at her, but say nothing. "I have to run back and get it."

"I'll wait," I say. James nods.

"No, no," Alice waves a hand, "You two go on. I'll meet you at the library." She hurries off before either of us can respond. We both look at each other. I sigh and turn to head towards the library. I hear James follow behind me.

Do my friends honestly think I'm an idiot? It's painfully obvious what they're up to

The question now is: how am I going to get back at them for meddling?

* * *

Sneak peak from next chapter:

_"Oh, you are just so – " I begin angrily, but falter. I'm not sure exactly what he is, but it sure is driving me crazy._

_"I'm what?" He asks, an obnoxious smirk on his face. A smirk so obnoxious I just want to punch it right off his face. Well, he does deserve it._

_"You're so infuriating!" I yell, stomping my foot for effect. It doesn't seem to have quite the effect I thought, however, because he just looks amused. "You don't have to be such a prat all the time."_

_He frowns. "You can't be serious! I was just apologizing to you!"_

_ Oh, so that's supposed to make everything okay?_


	14. Love is a Battlefield

**Chapter 14: Love is a Battlefield **

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-Sirius POV-**

I have come to the conclusion that girls are absolutely bonkers. I mean completely, utterly insane. In fact, the only girl that I know who _isn't_ totally crazy is Stella. I actually find it kind of endearing. Yes, I've been through this with Bria, I do know what endearing means. It may be a bit surprising that, being slightly crazy myself, I admire how sane Stella is. But it's such a nice change. Even Lily Evans is bonkers.

I know what you're thinking: Lily Evans is the most level-headed, reasonable, and responsible girl in the whole school. Well, tell me what reasonable and level-headed kind of girl would go kissing slimy gits like Severus Snape. Okay, so according to Bria she didn't _want_ to kiss him, but I have my doubts. Either way, I've seen Lily go bonkers on more than one occasion.

You listen to this and then tell me that these girls aren't at least slightly crazy.

Alice and Bria are both scheming to get James and Lily together. However, now that they have realized the other one is up to the same thing, they're in some sort of competition. Instead of thinking they might help each other out or something, they're each dead set on being the one to successfully get James and Lily to go out. Which, I might add, is a lost cause. Unfortunately, they've both dragged me into the whole thing. Then Bria is furious with Remus just because he said that she shouldn't meddle with this whole James and Lily thing. She'll barely talk to him. When she does, it's go force him to do things like say that he's partners with Peter, so I can be partners with her, so that James and Lily are forced to be partners with each other.

Then there's Lily. Lily has hated James with a passion for her entire first five years at Hogwarts. She was also friends with Snape for those same five years. Her friendship with Snape ended, but she became friends with James after stating over and over again that he was the most despicable boy on the Earth. Then she kissed Snape, her slimy git of an ex-friend. After that, she said that it was a mistake and that she didn't want to kiss Snape after all. Now, according to Bria at least, she is in love with James. After swearing she wouldn't date him if he were the last person alive.

You tell me that these girls aren't off the wall crazy. I can't see how.

Oh wait, did I mention that I'm currently hiding behind a bookshelf while Bria and Alice spy on Lily and James? Alice forced me to come and Bria refused to stay away when Alice told her that this was her (Alice's) plan and that Bria had no right to interfere. They spent about ten minutes arguing over a spot that is apparently the best spot to spy on James and Lily from. Now they're watching the two sit a table doing work. James and Lily aren't saying a word to each other, much less looking at each other.

"Can we go? This is boring," I complain. They both turn around to give me a death glare.

"Shh!" they quiet me simultaneously.

Like I said, these girls are off their rockers. I have to get out of here, fast. I just have to figure out how. Because it turns out that crazy girls are also quite scary.

I spot my escape. Remus has just walked into the library. He's walking in our direction, too. Oh wait, he's just stopped at a book shelf not far away. He must not have seen me. I'll just get his attention.

"Psst," he doesn't look up. "Psst. Psst, Moony. Moony, over here."

He looks up frowning. Then he turns towards me. He glances at the two girls, their backs to us, and rolls his eyes.

"Moony, you've got to help me," I beg. "I can't get away." He raises an eyebrow.

"I'm sure you can manage fine on your own," he tells me in what I think is a rather patronizing tone. Well, Mr. Smartypants, it's not as easy as you'd think. I'd like to see _you_ try.

"Alice, this was possibly the worst plan ever," Bria suddenly says with a sigh. "It will never work."

"I'd like to see you come up with a better idea," Alice says in a challenging tone. She should know never to challenge Bria. I've learned the hard way that there is never a good outcome when you give Bria a challenge.

"It just so happens that I do have a better idea," Bria says. Now Alice is in for it. Then Bria turns to me with a grin. Okay, so I guess I'm the one who's in for it. I gulp.

Then she notices Remus and her smile widens. It's a quite scary expression she has on right now. I look at Remus and see that he's not looking so high-and-mighty anymore. The only thing that's keep me from laughing in his face is the knowledge that my own future is looking rather grim itself.

Bloody crazy girls!

**

* * *

-Bria POV-**

This plan is not going to fail. It can't. I have to show up Alice. I will not let _her_ be the one that gets James and Lily together. After all, I'm the one who's James' twin sister and Lily's best friend.

"They are never going to come. This is not going to work."

I also have to prove to Remus that I can get something done on my own. He seems to have absolutely no faith in me.

"It is too going to work."

Lately he's been a bit of a prat. Yesterday Lily said that the reason that I've been mad at him is because I fancy him and, since he's dating Caroline, I'm just looking for a reason to be mad at him instead of facing my true feelings. Who does she think she is? A muggle psychologikist? Or…you know…whatever they're called. Well, what does she know?

A lot, actually. But she clearly has no notion of what goes on inside my head. I mean, if she did, she'd probably be a bit frightened, to be honest. Not that she isn't already a bit frightened by me at times.

"It's a brilliant plan," I add to Remus. He is currently sulking against a tree as we wait on a far edge of the lake for Lily and James to come along. He does not look convinced.

"Right," he says sarcastically. "Get Lily and James to go for a walk together around the lake. Push Lily into the lake so that James will save her and they'll fall madly in love. Brilliant plan, that."

What's with the attitude? He's not usually so…surly.

I just glare at him. Then I pull out the mirror that I forced Sirius to swipe from James.

"Sirius," I say. The mirror turns all dark.

"Yeah?" I hear Sirius' voice, but I can't see anything. I have no idea where he is, but there's clearly no light.

"What's taking so long? Where are they?" I ask impatiently.

"Don't get your knickers in a twist. I'm working on it." He says, sounding a bit irritated.

"Well, hurry – "

"The hippogriff is flying! I repeat, the hippogriff is flying!" He suddenly says. I almost drop the mirror in excitement. James would not be happy if I broke it.

I grab Remus by the arm and pull him behind the group of trees. I watch for them to appear eagerly through a small gap. I can hear Remus rustling uncomfortably beside me. We stand in silence for a few minutes.

"Er, look Bri…I'm sorry," he suddenly says. I turn to look at him in surprise.

He looks like he genuinely feels bad. Maybe I was a bit hard on him. I mean, how can I be so mad at someone like Remus?

"I mean, I'm not exactly sure what I did, but – " He begins. He doesn't know what he did? Really?

I interrupt him. "That's just grand! Some apology!"

"What?" He frowns.

"Oh, you are just so – " I begin angrily, but falter. I'm not sure exactly what he is, but it sure is driving me crazy. I storm away from him, towards the edge of the lake. I forget that I'm supposed to be hiding from James and Lily. He follows me.

"I'm what?" He asks, an obnoxious smirk appearing on his face. A smirk so obnoxious I just want to punch it right off his face. Well, he does deserve it. I don't care if Lily says I have violence issues.

"You're so infuriating!" I yell, stomping my foot for effect. It doesn't seem to have quite the effect I thought, however, because he just looks amused. "You don't have to be such a prat all the time."

He frowns again. "You can't be serious! I was just apologizing to you!"

Oh, so that's supposed to make everything okay? What, am I supposed to forgive him just because he apologized? Except I can't really remember what it is he's supposed to have done that he needs to apologize for, either.

I suddenly remember my conversation with Lily. Was she right? Am I just trying to find excuses to be mad at him because I fancy him? I mean, he does have some very nice looking lips. And his hair is all shiny and soft looking. Not that looks are important, obviously. But he is really funny and sweet. Plus, I do love hanging out with him.

BLOODY HELL! I fancy Remus Lupin! What am I supposed to do about that?

I do the only thing I can think of.

I push him into the Great Lake.

* * *

I'm running. I'm running as fast as I can possibly manage. I always knew that all those quidditch practices would pay off one day. Okay, so I constantly insist to James that's he's insane for having us run laps. I mean, you fly on a broom in quidditch. How can running help you? Right now, however, I have never felt more grateful towards James.

Speaking of which, the two of them are walking towards me. They look confused. I mean, it must be confusing to see me running towards them as if my life depended on it.

"Bria, what – " Lily begins as I approach them. However I just shove between the two of them to get by. I hear a shriek and a splash, but I keep going.

After what feels like an eternity I make it to the great oak doors. I pull them open. I hurry in.

"What now, Bria? I did what you asked for Merlin's sake!" Sirius says as I practically storm in. I ignore him and keep going.

"What? Bria! Where are you going?"

Good Godric, it's hard to run through the halls of Hogwarts. There are a bloody lot of stairs. I mean, honestly, what were the founders thinking when they built this place? It is not ideal for running. Of course, running through the halls is technically not allowed. Lily would not approve if she saw me now.

I'm starting to get a bit tired. My legs feel as if they are going to fall off. But I know I can make it. I have to make it.

I finally stumble through the portrait hole into the common room. Sweet Gryffindor common room! I somehow make it to the stairs up to the dormitory, which I have to literally drag myself up. I have run up so many stairs I'm worried I'll never be able to feel my legs again.

I reach my room and collapse on my bed.

I think I'll just stay up here for the rest of my life. That sounds like the best plan I've had yet.

* * *

Top Ten Reasons Why My Life Sucks:

1. I am in love with one of my best friends.

2. He is dating the most horrid girl ever.

3. I just pushed him into the Great Lake.

4. I can't leave my dorm room, ever.

5. I ruined my plan to get James and Lily together.

6. Lily may never be my sister-in-law.

7. If they do ever get together, it will probably be because of Alice, not me.

8. If Alice is successful, Lily will probably ask her to be her maid of honor, as she was responsible for getting Lily and James together.

9. I'm starving.

10. Well…I'm not exactly sure what the tenth one is…I'm sure there's another very good reason.

11. Oh yeah. I do have another very good one: I think I may have the Sight. That's about the worst thing that could ever happen to anyone. You know, other than me fancying Remus.

Merlin, it's hard to hide yourself away in your dorm for hours on end. I mean, sure, it's only been about twenty minutes. But still. I'm absolutely starving. And I'm so bored. There's not a whole lot to do up here all alone. A girl can only make so many lists. Here's a list of the lists I've made so far:

1. My favorite foods.

2. My favorite people.

3. My least favorite people.

4. Why I fancy Remus Lupin.

5. Why I should NOT fancy Remus Lupin.

6. Why Remus Lupin has ruined my life.

7. Why I have ruined my life.

8. Why Sirius Black has ruined James and Lily's life.

9. Why chocolate is the greatest creation.

10. The lists I've made so far today.

So, you can see my predicament. There's not a whole lot to do when you've decided to never leave your dorm again. Hmmm, what could I make a list of next?

BANG!

Well, my plan didn't work out so well after all. A dripping Remus Lupin has thrown open the door to my room and he is not looking pleased. No, he is not looking pleased at all.

"YOU!" He roars. Oh, Merlin, this is not good.

"Er, yes?"

"What the bloody hell were you thinking? Shoving me into the lake?"

"I – er – well…the thing is…I, uh, I thought," I hesitate. Then I get an idea. "I thought I saw a bludger flying straight towards you. I had to push you away so it wouldn't hit you. Turns out it was just a bird."

That's a good excuse, if I say so myself.

"That's the worst excuse I've ever heard in my life!" Okay, so it could use a bit of work. It's not like I had time to prepare. Well, I actually had twenty minutes to prepare. I should have made a list of excuses why I pushed Remus into the lake. What was I thinking? I was thinking I'd never see Remus again, actually. It's not as if boys are exactly able to get into the girls dorm. So, what's he doing up here then?

"How did you get up here, anyway?" I ask, suspicious.

"That doesn't really matter," he answers, taking a menacing step towards my bed. I try to hide my shiver. It's a bit frightening to see Remus like this. He's usually not so angry. I guess it's sort of my fault. "What did I do to deserve being pushed into the lake? Have you gone mental?"

"I'll have you know that I am absolutely not mental!" I say indignantly. I get up from my bed and stomp towards him. However, my legs wobble from the exhaustion of running up about fifty flights of stairs. I almost reach him when they give out and I go flying forward, straight towards Remus. I knock him to the ground.

I am now lying on top of Remus. Remus Lupin, who I've currently noticed has quite kissable lips. Remus Lupin, who I've also currently realized that I may fancy. Remus Lupin, who has a girlfriend. Remus Lupin, who–

"You are going to be the death of me, Brianna Potter," Remus says. He's not looking angry anymore. In fact, he's grinning at me. I just stare at him, unsure what to say. He stares back.

I tell myself that I need to get off him right now, or I might do something crazy. Like kiss him. However, I'm having a hard time moving. I'm not sure if it's because I really, really want to kiss him right now or if it's because my leg muscles aren't functioning due to my run through Hogwarts. Either way, I am well aware of his breath that I can feel on my face right now.

"She said yes! Lily said yes! I'm going to Hogsmeade with Lily Evans!" The voice of James suddenly yells from the common room.

I widen my eyes. Remus does, too. I scramble off him. Thinking I must have been dreaming, or possibly hallucinating due to exhaustion, I run out of the room to see if it can really be true. I start to hurry down the stairs. However, my legs once again give out from under me and I trip. I tumble down the stairs.

Well, this is just perfect. My whole body hurts now. There are voices and faces swarming above me, but I'm having a difficult time picking them out. The last thing I see is the fuzzy face of Remus, looking down at me in concern.

Then everything goes black.

* * *

Sneak Peak from next chapter:

_I can't stand this anymore! I have to get out of here! A girl can only make so many lists before she goes insane. Of course, James already thinks I'm insane. I wrote a list, "Reasons Why I Think Madame Pomfrey is Going to Murder Me in My Sleep". He found it when he was visiting earlier with Stella. He told me I was a nutter. Not that I haven't heard that before. _

_My friends have been taking turns visiting me. I think they must have some sort of time-table so that I'm alone as little as possible. I know that's the sort of thing Lily would make. Except, I've noticed that Remus must not be on that time-table, because he has yet to visit me._


	15. Bad Case of Loving You

**Chapter 15: Bad Case of Loving You**

_Doctor, Doctor, give me the news,_

_I've got a bad case of loving you._

- Robert Palmer

* * *

**-Bria POV-**

Why do these things always happen to me? Honestly. What did I ever do to deserve this?

I am in the Hospital Wing. My third Hospital Wing visit this year so far. That's basically one visit per month.

I wake up to James and Sirius peering at me quite intently. As if I'm some interesting specimen that they've never seen before. Which is surprising, considering that visiting the Hospital Wing is becoming a common occurrence for me.

"Oi, Sweets, how're you?" Sirius, to give him some credit, actually does look a bit concerned. Too bad his question was just about the most idiotic ever.

"Well, my whole body hurts and I feel like I may never move again. Other than that, I'm just fine," I say sarcastically.

James looks relieved that I'm, you know, alive and all. Then his expression turns serious.

"I just want you to know, Bria, that I'm not mad at you for stealing my mirror," he tells me, as though this should be the most relieving bit of news I've ever heard. I roll my eyes. "Please just tell me it didn't break when you fell down the stairs."

Excuse me? His one and only twin sister just fell down a flight of stairs and he's worried about his stupid little mirror?

"No, James. I took it out of my pocket. It's up in my room." Honestly, what is wrong with these two boys, anyway? Though, I shouldn't be so hard on them. They were the only ones at my bedside when I woke up. Speaking of which, where are my other friends?

"Where is everyone?" I ask, pushing myself up into a sitting position.

"They're in class," Sirius answers. "We skipped. Potions is useless, anyway."

"What do you mean, they're in class?" I ask, confused.

James shifts uncomfortably. "Well…it's Tuesday." Oh, that explains why he's uncomfortable. He knows how much I hate it when I've been unconscious for more than a couple hours. Yes, being accident prone, it has happened enough for me to hate it.

Wait, TUESDAY? "Tuesday? How is it Tuesday?"

"Well," Sirius says, the edges of his lips tugging upward. "You have Saturday. After that comes Sunday and then Monday. After Monday – "

"I'm not daft, Sirius," I grumble. "How could I have been out that long? I just tripped."

"You had quite a spill," James says earnestly. "You hit your head hard. Pomfrey did also give you a sleeping potion, so you'd heal better."

I narrow my eyes at the closed door of Madame Pomfrey's office. "I know that woman has it out for me."

"Not this again," Sirius groans.

James raises an eyebrow. "She does not have it out for you. She gave you that potion to help you get better."

"You two know that she has never liked me," I insist.

"You may not be her favorite person," James reasons, "But she's not too fond of Sirius, either."

"Speak for yourself, mate," Sirius scoffs. "Dear old Poppy loves me."

"Right," James says sarcastically, "Just don't let her hear you calling her that."

"You're just a bit accident prone," Sirius tells me.

"A bit?"

Sirius ignores James. "You know how she gets when people visit the hospital wing too often."

"I reckon she thinks they'll bring some sort of curse in," James muses, "Maybe that's why she doesn't like you, she doesn't want to catch your curse."

I glare at him. "Oi! I'm not cursed. Maybe you two are."

"The only thing I'm cursed with is good looks," Sirius says, sweeping his hair to one side. James and I groan simultaneously.

"What?" he frowns.

"You do know that you're insufferable, right?" I ask Sirius.

He grins at me and shrugs. "I've been told."

"Well, now that I'm all healed, I'm out of here," I announce, starting to get up. Sirius pushes me back down.

"Not so fast, Sweets," he says, his turn to look uncomfortable. "She says there's absolutely no way you're leaving here before tomorrow night."

"Tomorrow? As in Wednesday?"

"Yes, generally Wednesday comes after Tuesday."

I roll my eyes at Sirius. "Shove it."

**

* * *

-Remus POV-**

I sit on a couch next to Lily, staring at my Transfiguration book but not actually reading a word. I'm having a difficult time focusing. I wring my hands nervously.

I can feel Lily glance at me every few minutes. Perhaps I should be a bit more convincing that I actually am doing work. I pull out a parchment and begin to write on the topic assigned to us for tomorrow. I write one sentence and then pause.

"You seem to be having a lot of trouble with this essay," Lily comments. She is looking at me intently. "Do you need help?"

"Er, no," I say, avoiding her gaze. "I'm just having trouble concentrating."

"Hmm," is all she says before returning to her own work. It's the type of 'hmm' that usually means she knows what's really going on but isn't going to comment further. Which is ridiculous, because there is nothing more going on other than that I'm having a hard time concentrating. It gets rather difficult to do work so close to winter break and all. I decide that it might help my cause if I point this out to her.

"I was just thinking about the holidays," I say casually. "Plus, we have our last Hogsmeade visit of the term coming up."

"Of course," she says, though she does not sound as if she believes me. In fact, unless it's my imagination, it looks like she's trying to hide a smile.

"I was just trying to decide what to get Sirius for Christmas," I continue, feeling a deep need to convince her. "He's always the most difficult to shop for. Do you have any suggestions?"

"I'm sure you would have a better idea than I would," she says, still wearing a smirk. My shoulders slump in defeat. When Lily has her mind made up about something, there is usually no way to change it.

I begin writing again. This is certainly not going to be my best essay, but at this point I don't really care. Lily and I work in silence for about five minutes.

"You're bonkers!" I hear a loud voice from the portrait hole. I glance up to see that James and Sirius have just entered. Sirius spots me and hurries over, James right behind him.

"Oi, Moony. Who is more charming, me or Prongs?" I roll my eyes, but am saved from having to answer when Lily stands up indignantly.

"What were you two thinking, skipping Potions?" She asks angrily. Both the boys look a bit nervous. "You do know I could take off points, don't you?"

"Aw, Lily, you wouldn't!" James says, though he's unconvinced.

"I have half a mind to," her eyes narrow.

"Well, go ahead," Sirius says. James looks at him in surprise. "We were just visiting the hospital wing, but I suppose we don't have to tell you what happened there."

I suddenly straighten in interest. Lily falters.

"What?"

James grins broadly. "Bria's awake!"

Lily suddenly smiles, giving each of the boys a hug. I relax in relief. Lily and the boys take a seat.

"How is she?" Lily asks eagerly. I lean forward in interest.

"Oh, she's – " James begins, but Sirius interrupts him.

"She looks a bit peaky," he says solemnly. "Had trouble remembering the days of the week. I reckon she may have a bit of brain damage."

Lily looks at him suspiciously. "You're joking."

"Though I think she's always suffered from a bit of brain damage, so I suppose it's nothing new," he grins. Lily rolls her eyes.

"I did think she was going to murder someone when she found out she couldn't leave till tomorrow night," James says.

Sirius raises an eyebrow. "That was nothing compared with how angry she was that it's already Tuesday. By the time she gets out of there she'll have missed three days of classes. What's she complaining for?"

"I told her we'd send you along with her assignments," James grins at Lily, "she didn't seem too pleased about that."

"Oh, look, there's Stella and Marlene. We should probably go tell them," Sirius nudges James. James nods and they hurry away.

Lily looks at me. "You're quiet."

"Oh, I'm just glad that she's okay," I say.

"Me too," she smiles, "You want to come with me to visit her?"

I hesitate, looking away. "I would, but I have a lot of work to do," I gesture to my parchment.

When I glance back at her I can see that she's studying me. "You haven't been to see her for a few days. It almost seems as if you've been avoiding it."

I look across the room at where Caroline is sitting with friends. "I've just been busy with school work," I say finally, "that's all."

Lily has followed my gaze. "Right," she says flatly.

"Well," she says finally, gathering her things, "I'm going to go see her. She'd probably have my head if I didn't come the moment I heard she was awake." I grin.

She starts to get up, but then looks at me. "You should ask her to Hogsmeade."

I look at her, startled. It takes a few moments for me to find my voice. "What? I don't – that's not – " I splutter.

"Either way, you should break up with Caroline," Lily cuts in. "It's clear you don't fancy her. And if it's James you're worried about, well, I'm sure he'd understand. Not that he has any say in the matter."

Lily then stands and leaves me staring after her in shock.

I spend the rest of the afternoon and evening pretending I'm not preoccupied. When everyone goes to visit Bria before dinner I tell them that I really should go to the library to work on my essay. In the common room that night I act as if I'm working hard when really I'm just waiting for everyone to go to bed. Caroline is one of the last to go.

When the common room is finally empty I reach into my school bag, pulling out the invisibility cloak I took from the dorm room earlier that evening. I put it over my head and leave the common room. The halls are dark and quiet. I sneak silently through them with ease. I've become well practiced at sneaking through the halls after hours. That's the easy part. The more difficult part is opening the doors of the hospital wing quietly enough to keep from disturbing anyone, particularly Madame Pomfrey.

I manage to do this successfully. Inside, I walk quietly to Bria's bed. She's asleep, as I expected. I walk to her bedside. I reach out and lightly touch her hair. It's soft. Cautiously, I bend down and kiss her forehead. She rustles slightly, but doesn't wake up. I take a seat by her bed and watch her sleep.

**

* * *

-Brianna POV-**

Top Ten Reasons Why Remus Lupin is a Prat

1. He's always trying to tell me what to do.

2. He thinks he knows everything.

3. He does know practically everything.

4. He has to go around being all nice to everyone.

5. Everyone just thinks he's just so great.

6. His lips look very kissable.

7. His hair is all shiny and smooth.

8. He had to go and make me fancy him.

9. He has a horrid girlfriend.

10. He hasn't visited me once in the hospital wing.

I can't stand this anymore! I have to get out of here! A girl can only make so many lists before she goes insane. Of course, James already thinks I'm insane. I wrote a list, "Reasons Why I Think Madame Pomfrey is Going to Murder Me in My Sleep". He found it when he was visiting earlier with Stella. He told me I was a nutter. Not that I haven't heard that before.

My friends have been taking turns visiting me. I think they must have some sort of time-table so that I'm alone as little as possible. I know that's the sort of thing Lily would make. Except, I've noticed that Remus must not be on that time-table, because he has yet to visit me.

Maybe I should just ask them why. They'll tell me.

No, I can't ask. It'll make it seem like I've been thinking about him and then they'll get all suspicious and start asking questions and quite possibly figure out that I fancy him. Which I'm hoping is something that will pass within the next day or so.

Let's think, what's a good non-Remus related subject?

"So, nice weather we're having," I say brightly.

Perfect.

Sirius and Lily look at me much in the same manner James did when he found my list.

"You haven't even been outside," Sirius frowns.

"Are you sure you're feeling okay?" Lily asks, putting a hand to my forehead.

"Of course she's not, Lily, she's in the hospital wing," Sirius says, as though Lily's daft. "She fell down a flight of stairs."

Lily rolls her eyes at Sirius.

There's quiet again. Oh, great. Time to think up another subject. A subject that does not have anything to do with why Remus Lupin seems to not care enough to come and see me once here in the hospital wing.

Why do I have to do all the hard work around here?

"So," I look at Sirius, "How about those Magpies?"

"What are you on about? The Magpies haven't played since that game a few weeks past when their keeper got hit by that bludger."

"Oh, right," I say, slumping. I had forgotten about that sad fact until Sirius just had to bring it up again. Way to go, Sirius!

Time for a new subject.

"You reckon McGonagall's ever been married?" I ask them. "Because I've been thinking about it and I'm sure she must have been just lovely in her youth."

Lily looks ready to check me into St. Mungo's.

"I happen to think Minnie is still quite lovely," Sirius says earnestly.

I look at Sirius, pretending to be very interested in what he's saying in hopes that he'll elaborate. Unfortunately, he doesn't.

Think of something new to say, Bria. Anything but Remus and his very obvious absence from the hospital wing.

I can do this, right?

"Where is Remus and why hasn't he visited me?"

Lily and Sirius both jump in their seats. Lily glances at Sirius uncertainly.

"Well…he did visit," she tells me.

"No, he actually didn't," I snap, "I think I would know. I am the one who's being forced to be here."

"He was here," Sirius puts in.

"He was here all day Saturday and Sunday," Lily says, "Madame Pomfrey practically had to throw him out."

I frown. He spent all that time here? Why hadn't he been back since?

"He stopped coming after some argument he had with Caroline," Sirius says darkly. "I reckon she told him not to come."

"Why would she do that?" I ask in confusion. I know she hates me and all, for some unknown reason. I don't really mind since I hate her too. But why would she tell Remus he can't visit me? That doesn't make any sense.

Lily's wearing that look she wears when she knows something you don't, the one that drives me crazy.

"Because she's a bloody cow, that's why!" Sirius answers indignantly. "Can you believe that she said I'm arrogant? She has some nerve!"

"Sirius, you really have to get over that," Lily says.

"She said that?" I frown. Sirius nods. "You're not arrogant," I say supportively, then I add, "all the time."

"You've been getting better," Lily says genuinely. "Both you and James."

At the mention of James she blushes. Oh, yeah. It turns out that my plan worked after all, sort of.

Lily and James are going to Hogsmeade together. When I was running back to the castle by the lake that day and ran past the two of them, I guess I accidently pushed Lily into the lake. Just like I had predicted, James jumped in to save her. Though no one saw what happened, and neither of them will give many details, this led to James asking Lily to Hogsmeade and her saying yes. I was very pleased to gloat over my success when I saw Alice. I conveniently forgot to mention to her that it had been an accident that I'd pushed Lily in. I haven't had the chance to gloat to Remus, since he still hasn't visited me. Prat.

Sirius notices Lily's blush also and begins shaking his head violently. "Oh, no! Change the subject. I've had enough Lily/James talk to last me a lifetime."

"Okay, let's think," I say, looking around for inspiration. Then I grin, "Lily, please say that I'm going to be the maid of honor when you and James get married."

Sirius' face goes pale. I smile with glee. This is much more entertaining than making lists.

**

* * *

-Stella POV-**

I sneak quietly through the hallway. I've become quite good at it in these past few months. Bria taught me how to walk so that, even on the stones, my footsteps are silent. Sirius taught me all the secret passages. James taught me how to keep out of sight by staying in the shadows. I am putting all these newly learned techniques to good use. Except, I'm pretty sure that when we were kids _I_ was the one who taught _Bria_ how to walk so that no one could hear.

It's really against my better judgment that I'm doing this. I've found, however, that Bria is quite good at getting me to do things against my better judgment. This evening was no different.

_"I'm starving," Bria complained_ _from her bed in the dorm room. She'd just come back from the hospital wing and had missed dinner._

"_Hmm," Lily said lightly from her own bed, flipping a page of her Transfiguration book. _

"_I'd go to the kitchens," Bria said, sighing. "But I'm just so sore."_

"_That's quite a dilemma," Lily remarked vaguely, waving her wand as she practiced some incantation._

"_If only I had some way to get food," Bria pretended to look puzzled. She wasn't fooling anyone, least of all Lily. She was putting on a good show, though._

"_I guess the only way you're going to eat tonight is if you get yourself down to the kitchens," Lily told her. _

"_Aw, come on, Lily!" Bria pleaded. "I've been in the hospital wing for three days!"_

"_Exactly," Lily looked at her, "You could do with stretching your legs a bit." _

_Bria frowned. Spotting me, however, she grinned. _

"_Stella – "_

"_No," I said, "absolutely not." _

"_Really, Bria, just go yourself," Lily admonished. _

"_Look, the walk back from the hospital wing was really tiring for me," Bria insisted, "I'm finally able to rest in my nice, warm bed."_

"_How do you expect to manage to make it to classes tomorrow?" Lily asked. _

"_I'll probably be feeling better after a good night's sleep," Bria said. Then her eyes lit up, "Though, maybe I could convince James or Sirius to – "_

"_Oh, Merlin!" Lily shook her head in disbelief. Bria turned back to me._

"_Please, Stella?" she asked. "I'd really appreciate it." _

"_I'm sure you can manage fine by yourself," I said. "You know, if you asked James to go with you, I'm sure he'd love an excuse to sneak into the kitchens." _

_Bria looked thoughtful for a moment. "Yeah, but that would require going all the way up the stairs to the boys dorm to get him." _

_Lily snorted and rolled her eyes. _

"_Lily, that's unseemly," Bria told her primly. _

_"Stella? Please?" Bria turned on her pleading expression, the one that rarely fails. _

That is how I now find myself, ten minutes later, quietly making my way through the empty halls of Hogwarts. I had thought Lily might tackle me to keep me from leaving, until Bria had distracted her with a question about Potions. Lily was too ecstatic at the idea that Bria was proactively seeking help with her class-work to see past the ruse.

I pause as I turn a corner, looking at a tapestry. I'm pretty sure that's the passage Sirius told me was the quickest to the kitchens. I pull it aside to find a narrow staircase leading downward. I step through, letting the tapestry fall behind me. I'm suddenly surrounded in complete darkness. I reach for my wand for light. However, I can't find it.

Bugger. I've left it up by my bed. Which is strange, because I _never_ forget my wand. Well, I suppose I'll just have to be extra careful. I could easily twist my ankle trying to make it down these stairs in the pitch dark. I should probably get a medal for 'Friend of the Year' for doing this for Bria. You know, risking my life and all.

When I finally make it down the stairway, all bones still intact, I reach in front of me blindly. I'm sure there's a tapestry here. Sure enough, I feel a heavy fabric. I push it aside to find myself in a somewhat lit corridor. I cautiously step through.

This corridor has a carpet running along the middle, which makes it easier to walk without any noise. As I walk, I notice that most of the portraits are sleeping. Except for a few.

"Come back and fight, you scoundrel!" One calls out as I pass. I roll my eyes as I continue. I've had a few run-ins with him before. Including last week when he and Bria got into a very heated debate. Sirius tried to break it up but ended up getting pulled into the argument. It took both Lily and I, dragging them down the hallway, to end it. Though the two of them were still shouting insults until we finally got around the corner.

I finally reach the portrait with the fruit bowl. I lean forward to tickle the pear, just as James showed me months earlier. I enter the kitchen.

"What can Tilly get for missus?" I hear instantly. A house-elf is looking up at me expectantly.

"Er – " Bria had forgotten to tell me what she wanted. "Anything, really, my friend missed dinner.

"I's knowing just want to be getting," she says with a smile.

"Oh, and a slice of apple pie, too, if you have it," I add. She gives me a nod and disappears.

I've barely sat down for more than a minute when she is standing in front of me with a largely wrapped parcel of food.

"Thank you," I say, leaving the elf beaming.

On my way back to Gryffindor tower I walk faster than I had on my way down. I haven't gone far when I hear voices. I spot a suit of armor and hurry to hide behind it. I press up as far against the wall as I can, hoping not to be seen. The voices sound as if they are about to come round the corner.

That would just be great if, after all that trouble, I got caught. What would my mom say if she heard I'd gotten a detention? She would not be pleased, that's for sure.

I cringe as they get closer. Please, Merlin, don't let them see me.

Suddenly, I have bigger problems. I feel an arm circle around my waist from behind and a hand clamp over my mouth. The corridor disappears as someone pulls me back through a tapestry behind me into what appears to be a secret passage or alcove. I'm surrounded by darkness.

This is just bloody perfect.

* * *

**A/N: I know it's a bit ridiculous that she keeps getting knocked unconscious. These situations just keep presenting themselves as I write, only one was actually pre-planned. I promise, no more :)**

**Thanks to those who've reviewed, I would LOVE some more!  
**


	16. You Don't Own Me

**Chapter 16: You Don't Own Me**

_You don't own me, don't try to change me in any way,_  
_You don't own me, don't tie me down 'cause I'd never stay,_

_Oh, I don't tell you what to say,_  
_I don't tell you what to do,_  
_So just let me be myself,_  
_That's all I ask of you._

**- **Lesley Gore

**

* * *

**

-Sirius POV-

"And he carries the quaffle down the pitch – " jump " – he's way ahead of the competition – " jump " – he's approaching the hoops – " jump " - he shoots – " jump " – is he going to make it?" jump "HE SCORES!"

CRASH!

"Oh, bloody hell!"

"Prongs," I say, looking down at James, "How many times have we told you not to try flying off your bed?"

"Padfoot, how many times have _I_ told _you_ not to give him so many sweets?" Remus asks me.

"Don't be daft, Remus, I'm fine," James insists before hopping up and zooming around the room. "By George, I reckon they won't catch him. James Potter outruns the competition and heads to score yet again."

"James!" Peter cries from the floor where he's been working on an essay.

"What?" James stops, finally.

"You knocked my ink all over my parchment! I can't read a word of it!" Peter complains.

James waves a hand, unconcerned. "Good riddance! Essays are rubbish anyway, completely useless. AWAY WITH ALL THE ESSAYS!" James cries, charging a imaginary enemy with an imaginary sword on an imaginary horse. He then launches into a very elaborate sword fight which, I must admit, I'm quite impressed by.

"You will never triumph, O ye evil essay, not whilst James Potter is here to defend the small and innocent peasants of the fair old England! Take that! And that, and that, and – "

"Put the sword away, James, before you take someone's eye out," Remus jokes.

"NEVER!" James cries. "I will never succumb to your evil ways!"

Then he charges Remus.

Oh Merlin! I suppose I should put an end to this.

"Oi! Sir Prongs!" I call. James stops, lowers his 'sword', and turns towards me.

"Yes?"

"By decree of his majesty, King Padfoot, I order that you sheath your sword and retire for the evening. You must rest for another day punishing evil doers."  
James' shoulders slump. "I suppose you're right. It's getting late. I have to wage a particularly nasty battle in the morning against the scoundrel who stole my invisibility cloak. I reckon it's the evil Count Snivellus." He hops into bed.

Oh, bugger. I dropped his cloak in the passage that leads to Honeydukes and forgot to go back for it. I suppose I should go get it now before he comes out of his sugar induced stupor and realizes what I've done.

"Why Count Snivellus, we meet again. First you kidnap fair maidens and kiss them against their will, then you betray your kingdom and all its good people. You will pay for your wrongdoing. You will pay," James is muttering quietly in his bed as he stares at the ceiling.

I sneak out. Remus briefly glances up, but other than that no one notices. Of course, James is too busy muttering threats to 'Count Snivellus'.

Ten minutes later I'm headed back to the common room. I put on the cloak so I won't have to worry about running into any trouble. I think about going to the kitchen, remembering the chocolate cake from dinner, but I think it might be a better idea to keep sweets out of the room for tonight. James might go nutters if he got a hold of any more sweets.

I'm glad I'm wearing a cloak when I walk by the portrait of the knight, Sir Jacques de Molay. Last week I got into an argument with him and he was a right prick. Maybe I should set James on him and they could battle. It would be funny. I wouldn't mind if James accidently destroyed the portrait, either.

I'm approaching the end of a secret passage when I hear voices in the hall on the other side of the tapestry. I pause, listening. I pull the tapestry aside slightly and see someone right in front of me, hiding from the approaching figures. If they get much closer she's going to be caught. I know she wouldn't be too happy if she got a detention.

I reach out and pull her through the tapestry, making sure to cover her mouth in case she yells out. She does let out a muffled yell and tries to struggle at first. However she pauses when the voices get close and we both stand silently. Soon they fade off around a corner and the hall is silent again.

Bloody hell! She just bit me!

I let go. She turns around and looks blindly for me.

"Merlin, Stella!" I cry, pulling of the cloak. "That bloody hurt!"

"Sirius?"

"What the bloody hell was that for?"

"Oh, sorry I didn't just stand idly by while someone tried to abduct me," she says sarcastically, putting her hands on her hips.

I roll my eyes. "I wasn't trying to abduct you, I was trying to save you from getting a detention," I say, as if it's obvious. Which, you know, it kind of is.

"You could have said something," she says, crossing her arms.

"What would have been the point? We'd have been caught."

She looks like she wants to argue, but she knows I'm right. It's a satisfying feeling when I'm actually the one who's right for a change. Especially when the person who's wrong is someone like Stella.

"Look, let's get out of here," I say. She nods and starts to push back through the tapestry but I grab her wrist.

"What?" she frowns at me.

I hold up the invisibility cloak. Then I throw it over the two of us.

"Where's your wand?" I ask as we make our way back to the Gryffindor tower. I'm well-aware of how close the two of us are, but I try to ignore it.

"I left it in our room," Stella answers, looking sheepish.

"What are you out for, anyway?" I was surprised when I first saw her. Stella's not one who typically sneaks out after curfew.

She holds up a parcel. "Bria convinced me to go out to get her food. Apparently after her fall, four days ago, she doesn't have the strength to make it," Stella rolls her eyes at this. "What about you?"

"I had to get James' cloak," I explain. "He was too busy fighting imaginary enemies to notice me leave. Doesn't know it was me who took it."

"Fighting imaginary enemies?" Stella asks thoughtfully. Then she turns to me with an accusatory look. "Did you let him have sweets again?"

I hold up my hands in innocence. "It wasn't my fault. I reckon he has a hidden stash somewhere."

"But wasn't it your job on the Hogsmeade trip to make sure he didn't buy any more?" she points out. "You were too busy trying to get Bria or I to get an acid pop."

"I gave the job to Lily. She's the only one who's able to keep him under control. Besides, it's not like I'm his mum. Speaking of which, I think he owls her for sweets when he runs out. I caught him sneaking a suspiciously large package into the dorms last week."

Stella laughs. "Doesn't surprise me. That's one person who could never say no to James."

I laugh too. It's true.

We finally reach the portrait hole. I take off the cloak before saying the password. When we enter the common room it's empty.

"Well, thanks for the help," Stella says. "I didn't really fancy getting a detention."

I give her a lopsided grin. "Keep out of trouble next time. I can't be following you around to save you every time you're about to be caught."

She scowls, hiding a smile. "Don't worry, I can take care of myself."

"Sure you can," I grin, turning and heading for the stairs.

"I can!" she calls after me as I go up to the boys dorms.

When I enter our room it's dark. Everyone appears to be sleeping.

As I'm getting ready for bed, however, I realize that James is muttering from his bed.

"Do not fear, fair maiden. I have saved you from the scoundrel Count Snivellus. No thanks is necessary, Lady Evans. Well, if you must, I'll accept a kiss."

**

* * *

**

-Lily POV-

"Bri, wake up."

"Bria!"

"Bria! Come on, get up!"

"Brianna!"

"WAKE UP, BRIANNA!"

"BRIANNA LYNN POTTER, GET UP THIS INSTANT!"

Bria sits straight up and growls at me. Literally, she growls. I'd be slightly frightened if she didn't look so ridiculous.

"Bri, it's time to get going if you don't want to miss the Hogsmeade trip," I say lightly before striding away to get ready.

"Oh, that," she says, slumping slightly. She flops back down on her bed but, thankfully, does not close her eyes. "I'm not sure I even want to go."

I roll my eyes at her. She's being a bit overdramatic. Then again, it's Bria, so what did I really expect?

She's been in a mood ever since she realized that practically everyone has a date Hogsmeade. Especially since she realized that one of those people is me. Not that she doesn't want James and I dating, I know she's been waiting for this for ages. In fact, she claims it was all her doing. Which is typical Brianna behavior. She claims credit for just about everything.

She's just upset because this is, I think, the first time we haven't gone together. Every trip, no matter who else we've gone with, we've always gone together. I've assured her that we'll meet up, but this doesn't seem to comfort her.

I also suspect that it may also have something to do with the fact that Remus is still dating Caroline and consequently they're going together.

"Bria! You're not going to leave me all alone with Sirius, are you?" Stella implores from across the room, though I know that she: a) has no fears that Bria will actually not go, and b) probably wouldn't mind going with just Sirius, anyway.

"Really, Bri, that would be absolutely dreadful," Marlene says, in all seriousness. She, as usual, has a date with some bloke who asked her.

"Marlene, Sirius isn't that bad," Alice good-naturedly defends him. She's spending much more time than the rest of us getting ready – she got up about an hour before I did. She and Frank have been dating for about a month now and yet she's still a bit nervous about the Hogsmeade trip. I suppose it's only the second time they've gone together.

"Sirius Black isn't bad at all," pipes up Dory. Dory, or Dorcas Meadowes, has always been a bit boy crazy. "He's right fit! I'd kill to go to Hogsmeade just me and him."

"I'm sure you would," Marlene remarks drily.

"I'll go," Bria announces, after getting over her disgust at Dory's comment, as if she's putting everyone's mind greatly at ease. Alice claps excitedly. "But I'm only doing this for you, Stella."

Like I said, way overdramatic.

"Well, I appreciate it," Stella says, humoring Bria while hiding an amused grin.

Alice, having gotten up so early, has already finished getting ready. At Bria's announcement she turns on her.

"I'm going to help you get ready," she smiles. If I didn't know her better I'd swear there was a manic gleam in her eye. Bria eyes her uncertainly.

"Er, no, that's okay," she says hesitantly. "I think I can manage fine on my own."

"Don't be silly," Alice waves the idea away, "You don't have time to get ready. Not properly, anyway."

"I'm guessing she doesn't want to be 'properly' ready," Marlene assures Alice, though she's grinning with amusement. She's right, though. Ready by Alice's standards is – well, she got up an hour earlier than the rest of us to get ready for her boyfriend of over a month, that pretty much explains it all.

"I think I'll just – " Bria begins, breaking off as she decides to make a dash for it to the bathroom, probably hoping to lock herself in before Alice can get there. Alice beats her there and drags her inside. We hear the distinct 'click' of the lock. I can't help but grin myself. Bria's going to be murderous when she gets out of there.

"I don't know why she's complaining," Dory remarks, pausing as she puts on make-up. "She gets to go to Hogsmeade with Sirius. Plus, she'll be properly dressed for it for a change."

"Well, she's not exactly going _with_ Sirius," Marlene interjects, looking horrified by the idea. "It's not like it's a date or anything. She, Stella, and Sirius are just the only ones – "

"The only ones sane enough not to get a bloody date!" Bria yells through the closed door. Marlene snickers and I can see Stella holding in her own laughter.

I make a mental note to suggest to the girls that for the next Hogsmeade trip we all go together, no dates. That will make Bria happy. Even if she is going a bit overboard with this whole date thing.

"Good luck with her," I say to Stella sympathetically.

"Honestly," Marlene adds, "She's gone bloody mental."

"Oh, it will be fine," Stella says, completely unconcerned. "I figured I'll take her into Honeydukes first. That should cheer her up."

I'm impressed. Then again, I always knew Stella was smart.

"You're brilliant," Marlene says, giving Stella an admiring look.

"I honestly don't know why she likes that place so much. I generally try to avoid it as much as possible," Dory informs us. Then she gestures to herself, "Too many sweets would not be good for my figure."

Marlene snorts. She's never been Dory's biggest fan. The rest of us get on with Dory fine. Bria absolutely loves her. See, Dory knows practically all the school gossip and Bria loves to listen – almost as much as Dory loves to share it.

"OW!"

We all turn to the bathroom door.

"Bria, just hold still!"

"That bloody hurt!"

"If you would stop squirming so much…"

There's a brief silence. Marlene is getting so much amusement out of it that she's taken to sitting outside the door to listen.

"Bria, why are you looking at me like that? It's a bit scary."

"Oh, no reason. I was just thinking about the most efficient way to kill you."

Did I mention that Bria's just a bit overdramatic?

**

* * *

**

-James POV-

"Oi, stop that!"

"Stop what?"

"Stop bouncing your leg like a nervous wreck. It's shaking the whole table!"

"I'm not – I'm not nervous!"

"Oh, really? That explains why you've been sweating all morning."

"Have not."

"You haven't touched your food."

"Have too."

"I don't think you did your tie properly."

"Did so."

"You're as pale as a ghost."

"Am not."

"Your hair is so messed up it's knotted in tangles."

"It is not! Is it? Oh, no! Is my hair okay? Is it really in tangles? Bloody Merlin. Do you think Lily will notice? Do you have a comb?"

"Relax, Prongs," Sirius laughs at me. I frown. It's nice to know I'm a source of entertainment for someone. Then he pulls out a comb. Trust Sirius, of all people, to carry a comb around with him everywhere.

"Thanks, mate," I smile in relief, grabbing the comb. I pull it vigorously through my hair, trying to flatten it and attempting to get it to stay in place. I'm not sure why I'm trying so hard. My hair was always a source of annoyance for my mum. Can't seem to keep from sticking up on all ends. Unfortunately, I know that Lily hates it about as much as my mum does. Of course, that might have something to do with the fact that I'm always messing it up even more.

When it finally seems to be somewhat presentable I hand the comb back to Sirius. He's looking at me strangely. So is Remus, come to that.

"What? Does it still look bad? Do I have something in my teeth?"

"No, it's just…" Sirius falters.

"You've never looked so…" Remus trails off too.

"Look, mate," Sirius starts to grin, "I think Evans might have a heart attack when she sees how uncharacteristically neat it is."

I frown, picking up a roll and chucking it at Sirius' head. To my shock, I miss and it hits Peter instead. My aim is usually straight on, due to my practice as a Chaser. I must be as nervous as Sirius insisted. Sirius seems to notice this too, because he's smirking at me.

"Your superb aim not what it usually is, eh?"

"Bloody tosser," I mutter.

"Do I need to write your mum and tell her what foul language you've been using?" Sirius mocks.

"Sirius," Remus says warningly, giving him a look that reads 'Give him a break, he's about to go mental without your nagging'.

"Where do you reckon the girls are at," I ask anxiously, pulling at my tie as I begin to feel a bit too warm. I wonder if anyone else notices how warm it is in here.

"Don't fret, we're here!" I hear a chipper voice announce. I look up to see Marlene take a seat. Lily and Stella sit down as well.

They begin to pile food on their plate. I hear a strange banging noise on the table. What in Merlin's name is that?

"James," Sirius hisses, "I said to stop that."

Oh. That was my leg. It had taken up its nervous bouncing when Lily had arrived. I clamp my hand down on it to hold it still.

"Where're Alice and Bria?" Sirius asks, looking around.

"Oh, I suspect Bria's off in some dark corner murdering Alice," Marlene smirks.

"I hope not," Frank says, sitting down with us. "I was quite looking forward to our date today."

"That reminds me," Lily smiles in amusement. "No one use the word 'date' in front of Bria. She might murder you too. In fact, you all might just want to avoid the topic of this Hogsmeade trip altogether."

"Still sore about it, is she?" I ask grimly, temporarily forgetting how nervous I am.

"That's a bit of an understatement," Stella says warily.

"Why is she murdering Alice, anyway?" Remus asks curiously.

"Oh, you'll see," Marlene looks as though her birthday's come early.

"Hi all!" Another voice, even more chipper than Marlene's, greets us. Alice plops down beside Frank, giving him a kiss. "Morning, Frank."

I see Bria approaching sullenly. "Hey, Bri, how're y – "

I stop, staring at my sister in alarm. Everyone else is just as speechless when they notice her. Well, not the girls. They all seem to find the situation a bit too amusing. Alice sits looking proud of herself.

"Merlin, Sweets!" Sirius is the first of us to recover.

"What?" She demands angrily, putting her hands on her hips.

"You've got _legs_!"

He then flinches at the death glare she gives him.

I recover next. "Brianna Lynn Potter, what are you wearing?"

I see her flush slightly. I'm not quite sure if it's from embarrassment or from anger. "It's called a dress, James. Get a clue."

Okay, so maybe it was from anger. Not that I care how angry she is with me. I feel like I might pop a blood vessel right now.

"Go back to your room and cover yourself up! You are _not_ going out like that!"

"James!" Lily reprimands. "She's fine."

I, for once in my life, ignore her. I look pointedly at Bria. She gives me a glare worse than the one she sent Sirius and angrily sits down. She begins to quite violently throw food onto her plate, stubbornly refusing to look at me.

I glance over to see that Remus has been eyeing her a bit too long for my liking. What in Merlin's name is wrong with him? We'll be talking later.

"BRIA!" I say indignantly. She still doesn't look at me.

"James, she is absolutely not changing," Lily tells me sternly. I open my mouth, but can't seem to find any words.

"It's not like Alice will let her, anyhow," Marlene is eager to point out. "She's already tried."

"I'm not going to do anything just because you think you can bloody order me around," Bria mutters. "What are you, my mum?"

"Look," I say, trying to sound reasonable. "It's almost December. It's way to cold for…that."

"I stuck my head out the window this morning," Alice says happily. "It's unseasonably warm today. Besides, she's brought her cloak."

"Good. Put it on."

At this Bria deliberately takes her cloak and drops it on the floor.

"Hmm," Marlene remarks, "About fifteen minutes ago she was telling Alice there was absolutely no way she was taking that cloak off all day."

"Thanks, James!" Alice sings. "I was sure she was going to sneak off before we left and change. Now that you've ordered her to there's no way she will anymore."

Bugger.

"I don't really appreciate being talked about like I'm not even here," Bria complains.

"What were you thinking, hiding those legs for so long?" Sirius asks, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively. I'm about ready to sock him.

"Shove it, Sirius," Bria grumbles.

"And your, er," he glances sideways at me, "your _neckline_ is quite – OW!" He reaches down to rub his shins where I've just kicked him.

"Keep your bloody eyes off my sister," I warn.

"Prongs, mate, I don't think it's me you should be worried about," Sirius reasons with a grin. "You should be more focused on fighting off the horde of blokes that'll be lined up around the corner after getting a glimpse of those legs."

What's wrong with people getting so much amusement out of my sister dressed so inappropriately? Isn't anyone as concerned as I am?

"Er, maybe you should go change, after all," Remus says hastily. "It is quite cold out. Wouldn't want you getting sick."

At least Remus sees the seriousness of the situation. Maybe I can forgive him for eyeing up my sister.

Lily's giving Remus the look she gives when she knows something that no one else does.

"That's enough!" Alice says sternly, all traces of cheeriness suddenly gone from her face. I'm a bit alarmed by it. "I don't want to hear another word about it! Not from anyone," she directs this last bit at Bria, looking at her intently. Then she turns to look sternly at me.

All I know is that this Alice is quite scary.

Until she smiles again and returns to her food.

We all sit in silence for a bit.

"I'm writing to mum about this," I whisper fervently across the table to Bria.

Maybe that wasn't the best idea. I'm pretty sure my face is now covered with oatmeal. And I'm about to go on my first date with Lily Evans.

Bugger.

* * *

**Sneak peak from next chapter:**

_After all that James had the nerve call out, "Don't forget we have practice tonight!"_

_I was ready to throw myself at him and pull out his unnaturally neat hair. However, Stella grabbed one arm and, at her urging, Sirius grabbed the other. They quickly pulled me away. _

_Before we could get out of the hall we ran into another source of annoyance, Caroline. _

_"Oh, hi, you all," she said with a fake smile, "Are you off to – "_

_She stopped short. She stared at me, looking scandalized. From the horrified look on her face you'd have thought she went around dressed as a bloody nun. _

**A/N: **I feel like my story has been so focused on the main characters that the other characters have barely been in it. I'm trying to make sure I involve other characters in my story more. Let me know what you think! Please review!


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